


Star of the Circus

by RunFromTheMedic



Series: Star of the Circus [1]
Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-04-27 19:13:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 84,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14432262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RunFromTheMedic/pseuds/RunFromTheMedic
Summary: Leora's had a lot of truly strange and bizarre experiences during her time with the circus. She never thought falling through a hole in the Big Top and winding up in an anime would be one of them.





	1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

* * *

 

_Change is one of the scariest things in the world and yet it is also one of those variables of human existence that no one can avoid._

_-Aberjhani_

 

* * *

 

The tent was on fire.

It wasn’t that alarming, the tent was set on fire nearly once a week when the jugglers lost a pin during practice or the knife throwers on occasion went wide of their targets. No one was as of yet running towards the tent trying to rescue equipment and animals, so the fire couldn’t be that big even if she could see the smoke rising from her vantage point on the Ferris wheel.

From the blue streak Fin was swearing from his perch above her, Leora bet the head mechanic saw it too.

“Fifth time dis fuckin’ month.” The crotchety old man spat, then cursed anew when the action sent his cigarette the roughly eight stories to the ground. Used to his bitching, Leora dug through the tool kit she was holding before tossing a slightly crushed carton of cigarettes to the man. Another round of cursing had her tossing up a lighter.

For how much he hated fire of any kind Fin could, and has, smoked like a chimney for the twelve years Leora had known the man.

“This scrap heap is as good as it’s going to get, Fin. We might as well head down make sure the big top will stay standing.” She called up after another twenty minutes of Fin trying to fix a broken axle and failing miserably. The Ferris wheel needed to be replaced altogether, but the circus master was a cheap bastard. If it still somewhat ran and wouldn’t kill anybody it stayed. Usually covered in brightly colored duct tape.

Leora also just wanted to get down. She didn’t mind heights; she spent too much time with the acrobats and on top of machinery as Fin’s grease monkey/packhorse for fear to even be considered. But she was on top of the Ferris wheel during the very windy tail end of a European October, covered in grease, and unable to push the shoulder length curly mass of dark hair that had escaped its tie out of her face without getting said hair covered in grease. Since grease was a bitch to wash out of _anything_ getting down was the next best option. Checking on the big top was as good of an excuse as any.

She got a ‘hn’ in reply. Taking that as a yes Leora scampered down, making use of circus level acrobatic skills that always pissed the old man off to get down faster than he could with the latter.

Growing up with a circus had its perks. Every person was expected to pull their own weight, whether they were the six year old orphan girl picked up from a passing town to the old hands with silver hair and bent backs. Since she had joined at such a young age she had been passed around a lot, and was expected to at least pick up a few tricks or skills of the people she was minded by or ran errands for. She could juggle, breath fire, bullshit fortunetelling, walk the high wire, pickpocket, and other slight of hands with the best of them. Martial arts had been an unexpected bonus.

After the Second World War China had cracked down on the traditional culture. Practicing martial arts had been forbidden. _The_ _Cirque de Lumière_ had managed to pick up to two young hitchhikers when they had quickly passed through Shanghai to get out of the view of the Red Guard. The two martial artists decided to stay with the circus. Nearly fifty years later, they were both delighted to have a young and malleable student even if they weren’t quite for gender equality on a proverbial battlefield.

Eager to please, Leora had all but thrown herself into learning everything they had wanted of her. Training as it turned out was hell, pure and simple. She couldn’t walk straight for most of her first year with the _Cirque de Lumière_ and she got little to no sleep staying up practicing anything and everything. But it made her new family happy so the bruises, scars, and burns she got were inconsequential.

Dodging a pair of carney workers attempting to haul part of a game stall into place, Leora started jogging towards the Big Top. She’d take a shower after she knew if everyone was okay.

* * *

The tent was still on fire.

Not the ‘we’re going to need a few swatches of fabric to patch up the hole’ fire but the ‘oh shit call the fire department I fucked up’ kind. And boy did someone fuck up.

A good chunk of the ceiling was missing, fire eating its way through the fabric and along the pulleys used for shows. Angry sparks rained down and were blown into the sides, starting new fires as the wind rushed through any gaps it could. Leora could just see more fire sparking from the electrical work that ran the lights and sound. The wiring had been old and needed maintenance at least once a week since it was never replaced. This was probably the master’s fault Leora realized with a sinking feeling of horror.

Goddamn cheap _bastard_.

People were scrambling, moving around like ants trying to save what they could. Animals were being restrained and drug out as people screamed and barked out orders. Delicate equipment was tossed around like props while people grabbed what they could. One lone clown was futilely trying to put out the fire with his bottle of seltzer. Tossing away her greased soaked work gloves Leora joined in.

The heavier equipment the men were already taking care of so Leora moved to help the acrobats as they shoved costumes and the smaller props into bags and trunks to haul away. She was on one of the last bags when the supports started to give.

Cursing, sack slung over her shoulder, Leora dove out of the way of a falling platform. Sparks flew everywhere, catching the grease on her jacket and forcing her to rip it off or else get burned.

Twirling out of the way of another falling beam Leora cursed again. She was too far away from the main entrance to be able to safely make it across. Even now sparks rained down, catching the remaining equipment that the others had decided were a lost cause alight. Her best bet would be one of the holes that had been burned into the tent. Unfortunately, the closest one on her side of the tent was directly under another merrily burning platform.

Another crash a few feet behind her had her stumbling forward. The potentially deadly platform didn’t seem that bad anymore.

Leora had just enough time to register that the flames surrounding the hole were _white_ before the platform gave way and she was forced to dive through. She regretted it almost instantly.

Pain exploded in her back and head as the white flames flicked towards her, radiating out until even the tips of her fingers were screaming. Her vision went white, distracting her from the sensation of going weightless instead of tumbling onto the frost hardened ground outside the tent. The sack slipped from her now numb fingers as the white gave way to black.

* * *

The first thing that fully registered when Leora managed to claw her way back to consciousness was that everything ached. Starting at the roots of her hair and on to the tips of her fingers and toes was a throbbing sensation that vaguely reminded her of the drum that had been used during one of the shows; every beat had filled the stands and echoed in her chest, giving her a feeling of emptiness and an overall sense of discomfort. The second thing that registered was the noise, or lack thereof. It was never quiet with the circus, let alone when the big top was in the process of being _burned to the ground_. She expected bitching at the very _least_.

Forcing gritty eyes open, she squinted up at something flat and made of concrete maybe six feet away from her face. It took her longer than she’d like to admit before she realized that it was the underside support of a rather old looking bridge which confused the hell out of her. There weren’t bridges of _any_ kind near the town they’d set up near. Why was she under one? Where was everyone else?

Attempting to sit up was almost immediately regretted. The world spun in dizzying loops, and her stomach decided to lodge itself somewhere between her lungs and throat before twisting itself in knots. It took nearly ten minutes for Leora to claw her way into a sitting position and even then she had to bury her head in her knees to fight against the urge to be sick as black swam around the edges of her vision.

She hadn’t felt this bad since the first time she got a concussion falling off the high wire and bouncing from the net to the floor.

She had to be careful to wedge herself as close to the concrete support as possible once her vision was mostly clear of spots. The bridge was built over a river, and the water had swelled under the torrent of rain she was only now noticing, lapping near the edges of her feet and threatening to spill over onto the almost non-existing ledge that she’d woken up on near the top of the medium sized supports.

She vaguely wondered how the hell she managed to scale the underside of a bridge without realizing before her hand brushed against cloth.

Partially in the river was the sack that she remembered taking with her when she swan-dived through the hole in the tent with all the grace of a green acrobat. It was mostly soaked through, but it was the only thing that was even remotely familiar Leora had seen since she’d woken up. Dragging it as best she could into her little dry spot she decided to see exactly what she had to work with until she caught back up with the circus. She had got separated on occasion and had taken several days up to a few weeks to hunt down her family again. It was annoying and tended to happen when equipment or trucks broke down more often than not, getting lost in the confusion of the Big Top burning down wasn’t surprising, but it was always better to have something on hand to either use as tools or pawn to make a little food money and train fair. The master would bitch, but that was normal and he’d still end up clucking around the newly returned stragglers for hours like a worried mother hen.

There wasn’t much to work with.

A silver and black costume from when the trapeze girls had done the _Artemis and the Hunt_ theme over a month ago, two lengths of grey aerial silks from the same show, an equal amount of rope, a jugglers set of knives and pins, tarot cards, the basic magic kit that the handful of magicians they had on hand insisted be stored _everywhere_ , a large ornamental-looking fan, a flask of torch oil, a flask of whiskey which made her huff a laugh, and a box with several pieces of costumes jewelry and a locket with _The_ _Cirque de Lumière_ ’s candle and star design etched onto the silver plated front.

The last piece made her smile, even if she cringed a bit guiltily. The locket was a custom piece she’d had made over a year ago for the elderly Icelandic fortune teller that was the closest thing Leora had to a grandmother. The circus hadn’t been able to stay in one place for very long and she’d only recently picked it up when they went through the little Romanian town later the next year. She’d asked one of the acrobats to hide it for her because _Amma_ Eva always seemed to know when she was hiding something. She planned to give it to her at Christmas.

Slipping it around her neck, Leora traced the delicate etching on the front before using a thumb nail to pry it open. The smiling and somewhat cranky faces of her rag tag family stared back at her. Master Yaozu, one of her martial arts teachers and the weapons master, a bear of a man she referred to as _Afi_ Viktor once she got over her fear of the hulking Icelandic, looked two seconds away from going at each other’s throats if Eva wasn’t firmly situated between her husband and the other offending party with a long suffering expression plastered over her heavily lined face. The two old men had hated each other when they were younger, and still barely tolerated each other nearly forty years later.

Huffing out another laugh that didn’t make her body ache quite as much as the first time, Leora went to close the locket when her eye caught the mirror on the other side and she froze.

…That was not her face.

Well, it _was_ her face, sort of. Holding the mirror farther away from her she took in the wild mass of curly dark hair, coffee colored eyes, and the lines of a heart-shaped face. It was her face…when she was about a decade younger than her eighteen years.

She blinked at the reflection, it blinked back. She stuck out her tongue and it did the same. Running a hand over her face Leora noted that the reflections hand was equally as small and childish. Somewhat unnerved she fully focused on her own hand to compare the differences between the tiny trick mirror and reality.

The locket slipped through numb fingers when she realized that the hand holding it _was_ small and childish. Holding up both hands Leora took in the child’s hands- which were apparently _her_ hands- and followed the length of equally small arms before shooting down to stick like legs and tiny bare feet that were _nothing_ like her eighteen year old frame. She wiggled the toes of a body that couldn’t be more than _ten_.

Leora fainted.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

 

_Our present picture of physical reality, particularly in relation to the nature of time, is due for a grand shake up._

_-Roger Penrose_

 

* * *

 

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been unconscious – and she had been really lucky she hadn’t rolled of the practically non-existent edge and drowned – but it was long enough for the rain to stop and the river to fall to a more reasonable level that wouldn’t sweep Leora away when she tried to climb down.

Not that she tried.

Getting down would mean confirming that falling through a flaming hole in a sheet of fabric and somehow de-aging into a kid was her new reality. She suffered more than one hysterical breakdown since regaining consciousness and she didn’t think her frayed mental abilities could handle much more stress.

The people that walked across the bridge ever now and again weren’t helping, either.

They had _all_ _spoken_ _Japanese_.

Understanding them wasn’t the issue. Leora could speak Japanese. The circus had done a stint through Japan every other year so it just made sense to learn. No, the issue was that the chances that everyone crossing a bridge speaking Japanese in _Europe_ was nonexistent. Which meant she was most likely in Japan.

Alone, de-aged, and on the other side of the world from where for all intents and purposes she should be.

Fuck.

Leora buried her head into her sack/pillow and tried not to scream, repeating the manta _it’s not real_ over and over again in something akin to prayer.

Denial. Denial was such a lovely thing. With denial she didn’t have to acknowledge that she had somehow broken reality. She could stay perched under the bridge like some kind of over-sized bird and pretend it was all just a really messed up dream that she was having a few difficulties with waking up from.

Unfortunately, denial didn’t work on her stomach. At least two days had gone by since Leora had last eaten, left over concession stand fair that would probably have been better off thrown away, and her body decided to protest. Loudly. So it was with great reluctance that she secured a rope around part of the ledge that she now considered ‘Home Base’ so she could shimmy down.

Unused to her shorter height, she misjudged the distance between the end of the rope and the riverbank and ended up tumbling into the river.

Sputtering out a mouthful of dirty water, Leora managed to drag herself out of the surprisingly strong current and onto dry land before just deciding to lay there.

Food wasn’t worth this.

* * *

 

Her protesting stomach eventually forced Leora to her feet and towards civilization.

The bridge sat on the very edge of a town leading out towards a forest just after a string of old and seedy looking warehouses. Leora kept close to the walls and empty crates as best she could. The few conversations she’d heard from under the bridge were all male, and almost all of them mentioned ‘boss’, someone beating up the new ‘recruits’, with the occasional mention of drugs and alcohol. Add that to her surroundings, the whole place practically screamed ‘danger zone’.

Leora couldn’t climb a rope correctly without her shortened height messing her up. She wasn’t going to even _think_ of trying to fight someone else when it could possibly mean survival.

It took about twenty minutes before Leora came across something that looked like a residential area, and another fifteen of speed walking around random corners before she found what looked like a shopping district. This was both good and bad.

Good because it meant food and possibly a payphone so she could get in touch with the circus master to let him know where she was and that she would need help getting back. And possibly get help with her current age problem. She did _not_ want to go through puberty again. If that creepy witch doctor they picked up near South Korea could fix this then she would be kissing the ground he walked on.

It was bad because it confirmed that she was actually in Japan. Kanji and hiragana covered the signs and shop windows while vendors haggled with customers in obnoxious voices in clear Japanese, and everywhere she looked was the stereotypical black hair and slanted eyes of obviously Asian heritage.

The eyes were bigger, more expressive, than she thought was normal or was completely comfortable with, but she chalked that up to half-starved delirium. She’d seen an older woman with natural looking grey streaked green hair not too long ago. Like that could really be natural.

Her stomach growled loudly, yanking her train of thought away from its tangent and back to point that she was half-starved.

Giving herself a shake, Leora squared her shoulders and walked out of the alley she’d been lurking in.

Not two minutes in and she was already wishing she hadn’t.

She’d expected stares. Hell, she’d expected them. She was part of a circus, getting stared at was part of the job, and she was obviously foreign despite her similar coloring. People always liked to stare at what was different. Was she wasn’t expecting was the blatant disgust and disapproval.

Ducking her head down and quickening her walk, Leora admitted that she couldn’t really blame them. She was a mess.

Her hair was damp, the curls snarled and hanging in a matted mess around her shoulders. The jeans that had fit her eighteen year old self were huge on her child stick-like frame, a belt the only thing keeping them up. She’d cut them off almost at the knee, and still they pooled around her bare and dirty feet. Her shirt was still streaked with grease. The sleeves had to be rolled up so she could actually use her hands.

All in all she looked, and smelled thanks to her dip in the river, like she crawled out of a dumpster.

Realizing that she would be the first person accused if she actually went through with her half formed plan to pick somebodies pocket to pay for dinner, she hunched her shoulders and made an immediate left into the next alley.

Her only safe options were to either beg or go dumpster diving.

Leora would sooner cut her own tongue out than beg these people for anything. So dumpster diving it was.

The restaurant whose alley she’d just ducked into’s sign said the name of the place was Takesushi. Old sushi probably wasn’t really the best choice, but her options weren’t really that great to begin with. So with a sigh and another quick look around to be sure no one was watching her, Leora shimmied her way into the dumpster.

It was gross, and she refused to go farther than the top layer of trash bags, but it wasn’t that bad. She scored big time with a takeout box that somebody apparently forgot. She couldn’t identify what anything was, but it smelled fresh. Or it at least didn’t smell bad. Wedging herself into the back corner of the alley just behind the dumpster, Leora wiped her hand as clean as she could before digging in.

Despite being of questionable freshness, it was delicious. Comfortably full, she tossed the carton back into the dumpster. She’d definitely come back here. Hopefully as an actually customer, but the dumpster was a more likely possibility until she could secure funds to get home.

Stretching stiff muscles out as well as she could and rolling up the hem of her pants just a little more, Leora promptly scaled the drainpipe to the roof.

It wouldn’t do her any favors if some concerned busybody decided to call the police on her. One of the good things about Japan was that the buildings were so close together. It was a short jump between buildings so even her shorter legs shouldn’t give her much of an issue. Besides, nobody ever looked up.

Getting her bearings as best she could from her new vantage point, Leora decided to follow the throng of people heading deeper into the medium sized shopping district. There had to be a payphone around here somewhere.

* * *

_“I’m sorry, the number you are trying to reach is not in service. Please check your number and try again.”_

Leora’s eye twitched as the third number she tried failed to connect.

She had found a payphone. She’d even found a kid who looked about five or six who had a decently full coin purse. She didn’t like stealing, least of all from kids, but the child’s mother would be more likely to believe that he just dropped it instead of unwillingly donating it to Leora’s Getting Home Fund. So it should’ve been easy sailing once she got a few blocks away and disposed of the evidence.

Except nobody was picking up.

_“I’m sorry, the number you are trying to reach is not in service. Please check your number and try again.”_

Not in service her tiny Italian ass.

 _“I’m sorry, the number-“_  The operator didn’t even get a chance to finish before Leora was slamming the handset back into the cradle with as much force as an enraged child could muster.

Shoving her hands through her hair and snarling when they got snagged in the mess, Leora stalked towards the park for a hopefully quiet place to think.

Nobody was answering. Leora had got through six numbers and all the money in the little coin purse and they all were out of service.

That just wasn’t possible. Those numbers were _always_ kept in service so that the carneys would always be able to contact _somebody_. It had been a little over two days. That wasn’t enough time for all of them to get cut off even if they didn’t pay the phone bill on time.

Sitting down at a tree closer to the edge of the park well away from the other children whose parents would get all high and mighty about her appearance, Leora tried not to scream.

This wasn’t helping _anything._ She was in another country in a town called Namimori that sounded familiar but had never visited before, alone, without funds, food, or shelter, de-aged to about ten, and her only chance at getting home had apparently decided to go _off the fucking grid._

To make matters worse the small, insecure part of her that she’d done her best to squash since she’d first joined the _Cirque_ was deciding to rear its ugly head.

 _They left you here,_ it hissed. _They didn’t want you anymore and dumped you like yesterday’s trash. Why else you’d you be here? You’re nothing more than a street rat whose parents didn’t even want her. Sure they kept you a few years, but they saw how worthless you really are._

Leora shoved that voice right back where it came from, but the doubt lingered.

Why else _would_ she be here if it wasn’t because of them, the whole de-aging thing aside? If somebody hadn’t put her on a plane or a ship and left her under a bridge? But she’d been with them for twelve years and nobody had said they didn’t want her around. She was useful. She made sure of it. Was she really that blind? Curling up Leora bit her lip harshly to keep from crying.

Did they really not want her anymore?

She didn’t get a chance for her thoughts to spiral down any further before she was plowed into by something small, brown, and screeching at the top of his lungs.

The two went sprawling, Leora’s head knocking against the tree while the other kid’s face was firmly planted in the ground.

“Hiiiieee, I’m sorry!”

Blinking the stars out of her eyes, Leora squinted down at the other boy through her now pounding headache.

He look around ten if she was guessing his age right through the dirt on his face. He had brown hair that stuck out in so many directions she wondered if he stuck his finger in a light socket. Or used hair spray, but it looked to fluffy for that. Huge brown eyes stared back at her fearfully, with a tad bit of worry, but mostly fear.

Great. She graduated from disapproving stares to scaring children less than half her age.

“It’s fine.” Leora bit out, feeling the new bump forming on the side of her head. “Watch where you’re going.”

The boy cringed, pulling in on himself like he was afraid she was going to hit him and looking one loud noise away from bolting…and now she felt like scum. He didn’t deserve her snapping at him because of her family issues.

“Sorry.” she sighed, rubbing a hand over her face like she could physically scrub away the bone deep weariness that had settled in sometime around her third attempt at calling home. “I’ve had a really bad day. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

It was a shit apology, but the boy looked shocked over the fact that she apologized at all.

“I-It’s ok-kay.” He stuttered out, face turning red under the dirt. “It w-was m-my fault for not l-looking where I was g-going.”

The stuttering was kind of adorable, Leora noted absently. He was a scrawny thing, with more eyes than face and his hair sticking up in every direction even with dirt matting it down.

“Why were you running anyways?” He’d plowed into her with enough force to send them tumbling almost two meters from her original spot, and if anything he managed to turn even redder.

Leora didn’t know it was actually possible to turn that shade of red.

“I-I was r-running away from t-the dog.” He muttered, mostly to his shoes before nearby yapping had him sitting bolt upright and ramrod straight. He looked terrified.

Stiffening herself at his obvious fear, Leora slowly turned around, hoping not to startle whatever dog was chasing him into attacking the both of them.

Then relaxed completely when she realized that the dog the boy had been so afraid of was a chihuahua.

The brat had been running in terror from an ear and eyeball caddie that looked like it would weigh _maybe_ twenty ounces soaking wet. It had a pink pompom clipped to its collar.

And the brat had decided that she would make a decent meat shield if the way he was clinging to the back of her filthy shirt was anything to go by.

Leora honestly couldn’t tell if the pain in her stomach was from the sushi she ate around lunch or from trying not to laugh.

The domesticated rat finally reached them, slamming into her legs, biting at her jeans, and yapping like a demented squeaky toy and Leora decided that, funny or not, it was annoying. She felt absolutely no remorse as she punted it back across the park, where it ran off crying with its tail between its legs.

Glancing over her shoulder at the comical look of shock on the boy’s face, Leora couldn’t help but crack a grin.

“Dog’s gone.”

“T-THANK YOU!!” Releasing her shirt, the boy bowed so deep he fell over.

“It’s fine.” Helping the boy back to his feet, she patted him down as best she could, wincing slightly at the stain her still wet clothing had left on him when he clung to her back. He went bright red at her fussing.

“I’m sorry I got you wet.” She added a bit sheepishly. She hoped his mom wouldn’t get mad at him even if he didn’t seem to care.

“U-um, why are y-you wet?” he asked a bit timidly, like she was afraid she would rebuke him for asking. Eh, Leora didn’t seem much harm in telling him.

“I fell in the river.” She paused a moment, not noticing his horrified look as an idea popped into her head, “Then got lost. Do you know where I can find a map?”

“I-if you w-want y-you can come to m-my house.” He blurted out, looking horrified at the offer but determined to get it out anyway. “M-Mama s-should have a m-map.”

Leora was just going to tell him no, but she stopped her knee-jerk reaction. She really did need a map if she was going to get back to ‘Home Base’, as unsafe as the area really was, it had her stuff. She also needed to know where any second hand clothing stores were so she could get clothes that actually fit her scrawny child frame. And shoes. She needed shoes. But following a random kid home was potentially dangerous, even if he looked like a rabbit. Looks could be deceiving, so to risk it or not to?

“You could t-take a b-bath while Mama w-washes your clothes.” The boy offered as her hesitance became more obvious.

Hot bath. Clean. No more dumpster smell. If this was a trap it was a damn good one.

“Okay.”

If worst came to worst she could always make for the nearest drainpipe. If she made it to a roof she’d be gone before somebody could get a ladder.

“I’m Leora Ido- ah, sorry. Idoni Leora. You can just call me Leora.”

The boy gave a painfully shy, but none the less bright smile back.

“S-sawada Tsunayoshi. You c-can call me Tsuna.” Leora inclined her head in acceptance before waving towards the street.

“Well, lead the way Tsuna-san.”

Giving her a shy nod of his own Tsuna set off down the street, glancing over his shoulder every now and then like he had to reassure himself that she was actually following him home.

She didn’t mind, not really. She was too busy wondering why the name Sawada Tsunayoshi sounded so familiar.

* * *

 

Tsuna’s house seemed to be typical of a Japanese suburb. Small unitarian house, same as the one next to it, with a high wall surrounding the property.  Tulips had been planted under the windows to give it a splash of color, but really there was nothing special about it.

Which was why Leora couldn’t figure out how it looked so damned familiar. It’s not like she’d ever actually been in a Japanese suburb before. The circus had stuck to the country side.

Musing on this, she didn’t pay more than the bare minimum of attention when Tsuna ushered her into his house and announced he was home.

She started paying a lot more attention when his mother stuck her head through a doorway and squealed.

“Tsu-kun brought home a friend!” what looked like a female version of Tsuna gushed as she ushered her blushing son and what should have obviously been a homeless kid into the kitchen for snacks, seemingly not caring about Leora’s filthy appearance or lack of fitting clothes. And were those _flowers_ popping into existence around her head? Was it some kind of trick of the light?

Leora rubbed her eyes.

Nope. Flowers were still there.

_What the fuck?_

“Mama,” Tsuna broke through his mother’s gushing with what Leora assumed was long practiced ease. “This is Leora-san. S-she fell in in the river and got lost s-so I thought she c-could take a bath here.”

“Ara, you poor dear.” The woman crooned as she ushered Leora up the stairs despite her best efforts to dig in her heels. “Let’s get you in a bath. I’ll give you a pair of Tsu-kun’s clothes to wear while I wash yours.” She paused a moment as if just now seeing her attire.

“These are a bit big on you.”

“…They belong to someone… older.” Leora defended. It’s not her fault that she’d shrunk.

“Ah, you must be new to the area. It is hard to find clothes through all the boxes to sort through from moving.” The woman sympathized, completely ignoring the dubious look Leora was shooting her.

How the hell had she come up with that?

Before she could ask what drug the crazy lady was on, not the best thing to ask your host, she was stripped and dumped in a bath that she didn’t even see the woman draw, clothes whisked away and locket placed on the edge of the bathroom sink.

Leora stared at the bathroom door for a solid five minute before dunking her head in the water to start washing out her curls.

Whatever the woman was, she wasn’t going to be able to beat. She might as well enjoy getting clean.

* * *

 

Dressed in a pair of Tsuna’s shorts and T-shirt, and feeling considerably more human than she did before, Leora was ushered downstairs and seated at the kitchen table where Tsuna was already eating cookies.

At her blank face he slide the plate over, sending her an apologetic look while his mother bustled around the kitchen putting together things for tea.

“So Leora-chan,” Leora twitched at the childish honorific, “where are you from before coming to Namimori?” Sawada-san asked as she pulled more snacks out of a cabinet.

“…Italy, but my family moves around a lot.”

“Wah, that’s sounds like so much fun. Going so many places. Your family must really love life.” The Sawada matron exclaimed with a dreamy look in her too big eyes, making the tiny Italian twitch again. “Are you liking Namimori so far?”

Leora thought about mental breakdowns, dumpster diving, likely gang matters near her ‘Home Base’, and possible abandonment.

“Yes Sawada-san.” If her reply was flat, Tsuna’s mother didn’t seem to notice.

“Please, call me Nana or mama. I’m hoping I’ll see you around a lot. You should be going to Namimori Primary once school starts. Maybe you and Tsu-kun can do your homework together.”

“Mama!” Tsuna sputtered his cookie and Leora ended up pounding him on the back to help him breath.

“Oh, but Tsu-kun, Leora-chan looks so smart! And you’ll need better grades to get into Namimori Middle or a good university. Mama wants you to be able to say ‘Ah, I love life!’.”

That sent off so many warning bells, but Leora wasn’t sure why this conversation seemed familiar. Her own mother would never have said anything like that. And Namimori Middle. What was that name so familiar?

“Tsu-kun, why don’t you go pick up your room so you and Leora-chan can go play. Leora-chan, why don’t you call you family? It’s getting late so why don’t you ask to stay over since it’s so close to dinner. They can pick you up in the morning.”

Tsuna still looked embarrassed, but he still dashed up the stairs with all the grace of a horse on roller skates with a hopeful look on his face while Leora was lead to a phone in the hallway.

Even if she was an actually a kid, she highly doubted that decent parents would let their missing children spend the night at a strangers house. Not that she had any to ask.

Still, she dutifully dialed a number again, hoping that someone would finally answer.

_“The number you are trying to reach is not in service. Please check your number and try again.”_

Hanging up the phone, Leora walked into the kitchen to let Nana know she could stay the night. Then she walked up the stairs to Tsuna’s room and play whatever game he set up in a vain attempt to the painful ball of emotion that had taken up a place in her gut.

She’d just passed a small side table when one of the pictures caught her eye. It was a framed postcard of a man in a construction workers outfit who was obviously photo shopped onto a picture with penguins.

Something in her head clicked, _ker-plunk_ , like the turning of a key in a lock as all the little things she’d thought was familiar today fell into place.

Namimori. Takesushi. Namimori Middle. Sawada ‘call me Mama’ Nana. Idiot looking construction worker with penguins. Fluffy haired Sawada Tsunayoshi.

Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

She was in an _anime._

Leora didn’t even notice the floor rushing up to meet her as she fainted for the second time in two days.

* * *

Tsuna cleaned his room as fast as he could, shoving empty snack containers under his bed and in his closet so he wouldn’t keep Leora waiting.

He hadn’t meant to run into her at the park, and he had thought she was scary looking even though she made the dog go away. He couldn’t really blame her though. He was sure he’d look scary too if he fell in a river. She’d even apologized to him.

She hadn’t looked scary at all once she’d gotten cleaned up and some better clothes.

Even though he was embarrassed by Mama, he was happy that she should be going to Namimori Primary. It would be nice to have a friend at school with him.

Nobody wanted to be friends with Dame-Tsuna, but Leora had never heard the nickname before so she wouldn’t know how useless he was. That left him with about three weeks of convincing her to be friend before she’d be introduced to his other classmates and bullies.

When he was younger Mama said that making friends gave you a warm feeling in your chest, kind of like a heater. Tsuna honestly couldn’t remember the last time his chest felt something besides cold and kind of empty. He honestly didn’t even notice how cold he really was until she had squinted at him and something flickered in his chest. It had reminded him of a drinking hot chocolate in the winter after being outside for so long. So he’d hidden behind her from the dog and basically dragged her home with him because he didn’t want that warm feeling to fade, checking over his shoulder every few seconds in case she disappeared. He’d been terrified, but the warm flickering in his chest kept him going. Somehow he managed to make it home without tripping. He took that as a good sign.

Shoving the last pile of dirty laundry under his bed, Tsuna hurried out to bring Leora up.

He ended up tripping on her in the hallway right outside his door.

Rubbing a new bruise on his head, he took in the sprawled out form of what was hopefully his first friend.

She _had_ looked pretty tired after her bath, but he wished she could’ve made it to his room before falling asleep. He wasn’t strong enough to carry her.

Dragging her into his room as best as could, he wedged a pillow under her head and covered her with the blanket off his bed. She didn’t even twitch.

Huh, she really was tired. She didn’t say how long she was lost after she fell in the river, but it must’ve been a while if she was this conked out.

He’d need help to make her more comfortable since he couldn’t pick her up. But first he needed to let his Mama know Leora had already fallen asleep and wouldn’t be down for dinner.

That tiny little flicker of warmth still in his chest had him smiling the rest of the night, even after he’d fallen asleep on the futon his Mama had set up next to his bed where Leora was sleeping.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

 

_Never make your home in a place. Make a home for yourself inside your own head. You’ll find what you need to furnish it – memory, friends you can trust, love of learning, and other such things. That way it will go with you wherever you journey._

_-Tad Williams_

* * *

 

Leora woke to a pounding headache and a mouth that felt like it was coated in grit.

Scrubbing the roof of her mouth with her tongue a few times, the carney decided that water could wait and snuggled farther into the bed to sleep off the dregs of what felt like a really bad hangover.

Then she remembered where she was.

Bolting upright turned out to be a bad idea as she over balanced, tumbling off the bed and onto a sleeping Tsuna. She had no idea why he was on the floor in the first place but his startled screech did nothing to help ease her headache. Or panic.

Because she was in an anime.

An anime that she had watched in her free time. An anime where the underworld was everywhere, people could burst into Flame, and cursed babies kept the world from ending while their dead counterparts policed the criminally inclined. An anime where the main character’s life would go to hell when he was thirteen. A main character who had run her over and dragged her home with him before presenting Leora up to his mother like she was a puppy he wanted to keep.

A main character who had stopped screaming and was now looking at her in concern.

It was hard to move once the initial adrenaline spike wore off. Everything just felt so _heavy_ ; her arms, her legs, her head. Like the blood had frozen in her veins, making each numbed movement stiff and awkward.

Her vision narrowed down to a point, focusing only on Tsuna. His spiky hair and concerned, too big eyes. He was talking, probably to ask her a question, but the words were distorted, barely heard over the pounding in her ears as it fully sank in that this was _real_.

Leora wasn’t sure how she managed to get to her feet and stay upright. She wasn’t sure she actually garbled out the strangled sounding _I have to go_ , or how she made it down the stairs without breaking her neck. One second she was staring at Tsuna, the next she was out of the house and running.

The cold was still in her blood, creeping its way from her chest, inching its way in waves down her limbs in time with the pounding in her ears. But she kept running. She tore through the residential area, making lefts and rights in a mad dash to get away. When the scenery gave way to something familiar she sprinted by the warehouses, covertness abandoned.

Leora tore over the bridge, _Home Base_ her supplied somewhat hysterically, and kept going into the woods. She ran until she couldn’t see the buildings anymore. She ran until her legs, cramped with bare feet that were scratched and bleeding, gave out.

Unable to get back up, to keep going, to _run away_ , Leora curled into a ball and _screamed._

* * *

It was dark, she noted absently. The ground was cold too, mist curling around the edges of trees and shrubs, but Leora kept her eyes firmly on the small gap between the trees and the few stars that were peeking through. She didn’t try to get up.

Her whole body ached again, like when she first woke up into this nightmare. And it _was_ a nightmare. She’d lost the only place she’d ever called home, the only people she’d ever called family, and for what? Some fucked up fanfiction plot that she’d never truly wanted to experience.

A small part of her whispered that they hadn’t abandoned her. That they really, truly wanted her and hadn’t abandoned her like she meant nothing.

That small relief was drowned out by the larger part of her, the more practical side, which pointed out that she was never going to see them again.

It hurt.

God, did it hurt.

Leora knew she needed to get up soon, needed to get warm and find shelter. Probably needed to eat. She never did make it to dinner at Tsuna’s house, and she had done her panic-run-freak out before getting any breakfast. She should be hungry.

She wasn’t.

All she really felt was numb, empty, and kind of broken, like a shattered cup that someone had glued the pieces of back together wrong.

What was she supposed to do now?

She didn’t have any money. No clothes, no shoes, no place to stay. No real reason to get up every day.

That last one made the broken feeling worse. Her whole life from the age of six had revolved around the circus, doing her part, making them realize that she was worth the investment they put in her. She had found her place, her niche, something she was good at, enjoyed doing.

That didn’t exist anymore.

She didn’t choose to jump dimension, didn’t want to be in an anime. She had no reason to change the plot. The only reason she’d met Tsuna was because he bowled her over. Everything worked out in the end so she wasn’t _needed_.

Leora entertained the thought of just lying there, not moving, until everything just stopped. Until she stopped.

Not two seconds later she was hauling herself up onto unsteady feet, stumbling back the way she came, being careful not to twist her ankle on one of the many roots hidden in the dark.

 _Sifu_ Yaozu and _Amma_ Eva always said she had good eyes. They probably wouldn’t be happy a trek through an unfamiliar forest, barefoot, and at night was what she was using them for, but they would understand.

Her family would never forgive her if she just gave up. Right now she only needed to live. She’d find a reason later.

* * *

 

Leora ended up sleeping in the woods that night, despite making it out of the trees. The numbness was still there, making it harder to grab things, and climbing back up the rope to her bridge would become more suicidal than safe.

There were also groups of men standing between the warehouses, smoking, drinking, and being altogether intimidating. So she slept under a bush for the few hours it took for the sun to rise and the gang to clear out.

Then she went back into town to find a more secure place to call _Home Base_.

No one was glaring at her this time. She got a few odd looks for being barefoot, but for the most part she was invisible to all the people around her.

It was kind of amazing what a change of clothes could do, but the few stares that she did get made her skin crawl. She didn’t want these people looking at her.

So she kept to the roof tops.

She made a short detour into an alley behind a restaurant to scrounge up the breakfast she didn’t really want but knew she needed – the burger tasted like ash – and Leora was back to hobo house hunting. Joy.

Sarcasm fully intended.

There really wasn’t much to work with, if she was being honest. After hours of jumping roofs and ducking in and out of alleys Leora didn’t have much to show for it, besides being more comfortable in her smaller frame.

Namimori was severely lacking abandoned buildings and rundown apartment complexes. When it started getting dark again, Leora settled for sleeping on top of a small antique shop until the next day. Not that she slept much. After the first nightmare of the big top burning down she resigned herself for staring at the night sky until morning.

As soon as the sun came up, she was off again.

She was back on the antique store roof come nightfall, frustrated, and chilled from a surprise shower sometime around lunch time. She had dried off, but she was still colds.

She had managed to snag several water bottles and a few apples that she hadn’t eaten yet from the market district during the chaos that apparently was a special sale day. Leora didn’t see what was so special about it. To her it looked like a horde of starving hyenas masquerading as housewives attacking each other for a pack of toilet paper.

It must be a culture thing.

Either way, the hoard had been too preoccupied to notice their wallets getting lighter so that worked for her. She was now the proud owner of ¥22,000. An actual apartment might actually be possible, albeit a really cheap one, if she could make off with at least another ¥10,000 from the market district.

Hopefully.

Leora really had no clue how much apartments should cost. She’d never needed one before, least of all in Japan.

So, apartment hunting. One that would be decent enough to not be falling apart around her, but questionable enough that they wouldn’t call the police on the 112 cm brat trying to rent an apartment on her own with no parents, no papers, and no shoes.

She really needed to find some shoes, but all the kids size ones where sold in the department store. She wasn’t a good enough thief to make it past all the clerks and video cameras. Plus she was still barefoot. A kid walking into a department store barefoot and dirty was pretty much the same as wearing a blinking neon sign that screamed _Desperate: Keep In Sight!_

Why the hell did she have to turn into a kid on top of falling into another dimension? It just made things so much harder. And cliché. She wasn’t even going to start about how cliché this whole clusterfuck was.

Day three of hobo house hunting actually paid off.

The building itself was tiny, only two stories with eight apartments to the whole building and on the edge of Namimori near the warehouse district. The bricks were a grey streaked brown in some places, black in others while the stair case and railing were badly rusted. Paint was peeling in thick stripes off most of the doors and what she could see of the tiny, barred windows was coated in grim. Most of the lightbulbs by the doors were busted out and the glass left where it landed. A small vacancy sign was propped up by the only door that looked like somebody cared enough to wash it.

The place looked like a drug den in the making, and any sensible person would have instantly said ‘nope’ and kept hunting.

Leora knocked on the door with the sign.

Someone inside dropped something, cursed, then dropped something else. There was a lot of clattering, more mumbled curses, then the door was yanked open by the scariest woman Leora had ever seen.

She wasn’t that much taller than Leora’s small stature, maybe another thirty centimeters or so, with a rail thin body the carney had only seen on the starving or really, really old. A towel was pinned haphazardly over greasy hair that fell into a sagging face that looked like it had been smashed with a frying pan. When she sneered Leora could see that she was missing teeth.

“Wha’ da yah want, brat.” Her breath reeked of sour food and alcohol, and made Leora’s eyes water. It took considerable more will power than should be necessary not to step back to breathe easier.

“An apartment.” The woman spat on the ground and pointed a cracked fingernail in Leora’s face.

“This ain’t no toy house brat. Go home an’ play with yur dolls.”

“I don’t have dolls.” Leora said with a calm she didn’t feel. “Or a home. You gonna rent me one or not?”

“Wha’d you do? Got mad at mummy and daddy? Run away?” the crotchety old bitch spat, pulling a cigarette out of a pocket and lighting up with the lighter she’d pulled out the other.

“No. The place went up in flames with everyone in it.” Leora spat back bitterly, watching with a curl of satisfaction as the old bitch jerked in shock. “How much for an apartment?”

It was less a question and more of a demand, and they both knew it. The landlady eyed her for a bit, dragging on her cigarette before blowing a lungful of smoke in Leora’s face.

“¥39,000.” Leora snorted.

“¥20,000”

“This ain’t no charity, girl.” The landlady growled, jabbing her lit cigarette in Leora’s face.

“The place is a wreck and I doubt the rooms are much better.” Leora countered, crossing her arms. “You want me to pay more, fix the place up. ¥20,000.”

“¥35,000.”

“¥21,500.”

“¥34,500.”

“¥22,000.” The lady looked murderous.

“¥34,000.” She grit out around her cigarette. “Apartments ain’t cheap, brat.”

“They are when they’re run down and don’t have any tenants.” Leora tossed back, “¥24,000.”

“¥33,000.”

“¥28,000 and I’ll throw in two bottles of sake with a carton of cigarettes once a month with the rent.” The landlady looked dubious.

“How’re yah gonna get that you brat?”

“Do you really care as long as you get it?”

The lady squinted at her through a haze of smoke, trying to find any cracks in Leora’s utterly bored expression. Finding none, she took one last drag on her cigarette before dropping it and grinding it under the toe of her fuzzy pink slippers.

“If da cops come by, Ah’m tellin’ them yah broke in.” she announced before pulling out another cigarette. “You can have 2B.”

Stamping back inside her apartment, the old lady slammed things around for a bit before returning with a battered looking key. She stomped up the stair with more force than Leora thought they could hold before stopping at a door and unlocking it.

Pocketing the key that was tossed at her head Leora pulled out ¥22,000 and handed it over. The woman snatched it greedily before starting to count. She scowled when she realized it was short.

“This ain’t ¥28,000 girl.”

“You’ll get the rest tomorrow. Your booze and cigarettes at the end of the month. I’ll pay rent every first of the month.”

“You don get ta call the shots, brat.” Leora’s new landlady sneered. It apparently was her default expression. Leora glared right back.

“Do you want my money or not?”

The old bitch scowled some more, spat at Leora’s bare feet, and stomped her way back down the stairs. Waiting a minute longer to hear the door the floor below her slam shut, Leora closed and locked her own door.

Then she turned around to see her new living space.

There was a short hallway leading into the main living space just past that weird little step thing all Japanese households seemed to have that held a small sink, a burner, an ancient looking washing machine, and an equally ancient looking mini fridge. Across from that was the bathroom.

It didn’t have much of a bath. The tub looked more like an oversized bucket that could easily be spanned by her smaller arm reach. The toilet was crammed right next to it in a corner. There wasn’t a sink – she figured that she was going to have to use the one in the hallway – but there was a mirror on the opposite wall. The water ran and the toilet worked, so Leora overlooked how dirty it was.

The main room wasn’t much. Small, square little room with a scratched wooden floor, a small window, and a single bare light bulb that was starting to flicker. Leora scrunched up her nose at the gritty feeling the floor had. She didn’t want to know what the grey stuff on the walls was.

A closet took up some of the available space. A dusty futon was crammed in the bottom half of it and Leora did a mental happy dance at the find. Once she managed to beat the dust out and wash it, she would have a halfway decent – if somewhat threadbare – bed.

All in all, her filthy little shoebox place wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be. It definitely beat sleeping in the woods or on somebody’s roof again. And no roaches. She couldn’t _stand_ roaches.

Taking one last look around Leora left her new apartment, careful to pick her way around the glass that could embed itself into her already abused feet.

She needed to get her hands on the remaining ¥6,000 and some cleaning supplies. And shoes. She really, _really_ needed to find a pair of shoes.

Her feet couldn’t take much more of this.

* * *

.

Getting the remaining money turned out to be harder than she thought. There weren’t any more sales going on currently at the shopping district to distract people from the lightening on their purses. There also weren’t that many people out shopping this close to dinner time. So Leora did something that was probably stupid.

She helped herself to the pockets of a group of high school aged delinquents who were smoking and well on their way to being drunk off their asses.

She had to pretend to be lost, stumble a bit, act afraid, and bolt almost immediately after, but she now had ¥9,000 and enough cartons of cigarettes to cover her bitch of a landlady for the next two months.

She probably shouldn’t have promised sake as part of her rental agreement. That would be a lot harder to get her hands on than cigarettes.

Stopping at the park from her first day walking around Namimori, Leora went through a mental to do list.

She needed to get her stuff from the bridge. No one should’ve seen the rope, but there was still a chance someone might. The stuff might not be very useful, but it was from _Home_. She wasn’t going to risk losing it.

Cleaning supplies was still high on her list. The whole apartment needed a good scrubbing, and she wanted to be able to fall asleep there without waking up covered in dust.

Laundry detergent was another one. Tsuna’s clothes were starting to smell after her mad dash through the woods, sleeping on rooftops, and more dumpster diving. The futon needed a good wash too.

Wincing as one of the many cuts on her feet stung, Leora shifted her priority list around to put shoes at the very top. Which made it tied with a first aid kit.

…Probably should get the first aid kit first. The cuts really needed to be cleaned.

Standing on her much abused feet she started to leave the park, intent on making use of the last few hours of daylight she had left.

“Wait!”

Jerking around, Leora came face to face with a running main character who promptly tripped, falling into the carney and sending them both sprawling. Again.

Leora wheezed as Tsuna’s elbow jabbed into her stomach in his mad scramble to get off of her.

“Hieee, I’m s-sorry!”

“Ss fine.” She managed after she took a minute to get her breath back and levered herself back upright. “We need to stop meeting like this. You’re heavy.”

Tsuna’s already distressed face when bright red. Averting his eyes, he twisted his hands together, fiddling with his fingers in a nervous way that she had done when she was a kid herself.

Standing up and dusting herself off, Leora held out a hand to help him up. He looked shocked, and a tad bit wary, but he still took it after a moments deliberations. He went bright red again when she started dusting _him_ off.

“I’m sorry I ran out like that.” Leora said after an awkward moment where the two of them just stared at each other. “I just really…needed to go.” _Get away get away_ her mind supplied, the semi-hysterical chant that had been pushed into a corner since she’d broken out of her panic, but not completely silenced.

It was easier to push aside the more she focused on other things. Like talking to Tsuna, oddly enough. This was the quietest it had been yet. She thought being near one of the main sources of her big breakdown would make it worse.

“Um, it’s going to be a while before I can return your clothes.” Leora added as an afterthought, more than a little sheepish, and ashamed, of the fact. “All of mine are gone, so…yeah.”

“I-it’s fine!” Tsuna hurried to assure, arms flailing around a bit. “You can k-keep them as long as you l-like.”

Tangling his fingers together again, Tsuna took a deep breath before squaring his shoulders and looking her directly in the eyes.

“D-do you want to come over for d-dinner? You m-missed it last time.” Almost immediately after the words left his mouth his determined face crumbled, turned bright red, and his eyes went straight to the ground. He fidgeted even more than before.

Meanwhile Leora was seriously weighing the options.

On one hand it would be wasting what few hours of daylight she had left. She wasn’t stupid enough to walk around the warehouse district at night, but she _really_ wanted her few possessions to be in a safe and secure location. Her apartment might be a step or two up from a hovel, but the lock was surprisingly sturdy.

On the other, free food. She didn’t have anything but the two apples she’d stolen from the market…which she forgot to eat. She hadn’t really gotten her appetite back once most of the numbness wore off. This not being hungry thing was going to be dangerous if she wasn’t careful.

They also might have a first aid kit that she wouldn’t have to steal or spend money on.

She was also feeling just a teensy, tiny build guilty for probably scaring a kid with her run-away-freak out after he’d taken her home as an apology for running her over.

“If your mom doesn’t mind, sure. I need to apologize to her too.”

The smile Tsuna shot her was blinding. Literally. Leora had to fight the urge to shade her eyes from the sparkles that were popping to life around his head.

_Holy shit, it’s genetic._

Feeling a bit theatric – probably because of the sparkles, the circus master would’ve killed for those kind of illusions – Leora swept out her hand as she bowed from the waste.

“Lead the way Sawada-san.”

Flustered, but still grinning, Tsuna started off down the street, Leora falling into step beside him which seemed to make him smile even more.

The grin stayed in place until they had made it back to Tsuna’s house, when he caught sight of her scratched up feet while taking off his shoe and screeched.

“Hieeee, what happened to your feet?!”

“I lost my shoes. Does your mom have a first aid kit I can borrow?”

Bodily hauling her across the floor to the kitchen in a mad dash to get to his mother, and the first aid kit, was completely unnecessary, and equally unappreciated. He ended up tripping halfway there and making them both face plant into the floor.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

* * *

 

_A couple of times in your life, it happens like that. You meet a stranger, and all you know is that you need to know everything about them._

* * *

 

It was almost a relief to have Nana forcefully usher her into another bath not five minutes after she entered the house. It had been a long time since she’d realized how much of a luxury being clean was.

The woman was still going on about how horrible it was that the movers lost all of her clothes and shoes, but Leora guessed it was better than her getting suspicious and calling child services.

After putting on another pair of Tsuna’s clothes she was herded downstairs and seated at the kitchen table. Tsuna looked torn between sitting down himself or staying standing next to her while his mother bandaged her cut up feet.

Nana solved the problem for him.

“Tsu-kun, go wash your hands. Dinner’s ready.” Not looking very happy about it, Tsuna left to do as he was bid.

Securing the last of the wrappings with tape, Nana started packing up the first aid kit.

“All done Leora-chan! They don’t hurt do they?”

Leora flexed her wrapped feet and wiggled her band-aid covered toes. Yes, yes they did.

“I’m fine, Nana-san.” Standing, Leora bowed low in front of the housewife. “Thank you again, Nana-san. I haven’t been a very good guest so far, and I’m really sorry for it.”

Nana just waved it off.

“Aren’t you so polite!” she squealed, “It’s been no trouble at all Leora-chan. I’m happy to have you over. I’m sure Tsu-kun is too. He’s been going to the park every day since you left trying to find you again.”

“MAMA!”

Tsuna was red-faced as he ran back into the kitchen, screeching while his mother continued to tease him about how much he missed his friend.

Leora wasn’t sure what to feel about that.

From a certain perspective, she agreed with Nana. Following someone around in a socially awkward attempt to make a friend was adorable. But she was pretty sure that what he was doing was a precursor to stalking.

“I can come by more often, if you want?” she offered hesitantly, interrupting another of Nana’s tirades. She didn’t really want to, but she also didn’t need Tsuna developing stalking tendencies when it came to her. Maybe coming over every now and again would make it stop? Nana just beamed another smile that brought flowers into existence, like it would be ridiculous that she wouldn’t before shoeing the two of them towards the table.

Grateful for a reason to get off her feet, Leora complied. Tsuna shuffled into the seat next to hers.

And then there was food. A _lot_ of food.

Neither Tsuna nor Nana seemed to think that anything was wrong with the heaped up platters in front of them, so that probably meant that this was a normal amount for the Sawada household.

Leora gave her own plate a dubious look. Nana had taken it upon herself to portion things out for her, and she hadn’t been stingy.

…She wasn’t going to be able to eat all of that. Even if she was hungry _and_ back to adult size she wouldn’t be able to eat all of that.

How was it that Tsuna never got _fat_?

“How does it taste Leora-chan?” Snapping out of her thoughts Leora hastily shoved some kind of vegetable in her mouth. It didn’t have the ash taste that the burger had, it actually tasted great, the idea of eating just wasn’t as appealing as it was a few days ago.

Dutifully she swallowed. “It’s delicious.”

Then she set to work picking her way through her plate with a single minded determinedness that seemed to please Nana for some reason.

She didn’t even get a fourth of the way through her plate before she put her chopsticks down.

There was nothing wrong with the food, she hadn’t been lying when she said it was delicious, but the not being hungry despite hardly any food was really bothering her. Realizing she couldn’t tell if she was full or not wasn’t helping things.

She’d just eaten a decent amount of food after very little for an extended period of time and she didn’t feel full. She didn’t even feel _satisfied_ , just a bit nauseous.

Apparently as far as her body was concerned, she wasn’t hungry and she didn’t need to tell if she was full or not.

Weird anime world or not, this was _not_ a good thing.

Did something in her break when she fell through the tent? No, she’d still been hungry after waking up under the bridge and she felt full after dumpster diving behind Takesushi. So something must’ve broken during her run-away-freak-out.

Fuck.

Things just kept getting better and better.

She was already forgetting to eat if the apple scenario from earlier was anything to go by. If she wasn’t careful she could end up starving herself to death.

Double fuck.

Damnit, she _was_ going to make visiting the Sawada house a regular thing wasn’t she? At least that way she was sure Nana wouldn’t let her leave without something to snack on.

“Aren’t you still hungry Leora-chan?” Jerking out of her progressively hysterical thoughts Leora pasted what felt like a completely fake smile on her face.

“I’m full.” Nana frowned.

“You hardly ate anything dear. Are you sure?”

 _No, not really_ she thought. “I don’t eat much.”

“But you’re a growing girl! How are you going to get big and strong if you don’t eat?”

 _Lady I top out at one hundred sixty two centimeters with a build like a colt. ‘Big’ is not a word anyone has_ ever _used to describe me._

“Sorry, Nana-san. I’m just not hungry anymore.”

“Well, alright. If you’re sure you’re full.” Nana gave her another concerned look before it was replaced by a smile. “Tsu-kun is almost done too. Maybe you two can play after dinner?”

Tsuna promptly started choking on a mouthful of rice. Pounding his back, Leora resigned herself to something like this happening every time she came over. This was twice now and she didn’t see stopping in the near future. Tsuna was to easily embarrassed.

It took a few more minutes for him to stop choking, and another ten for him to actually finish eating, before Nana decided that they were done and should head up to Tsuna’s room.

Leora offered to help with the dishes but was easily dismissed with another squealed _‘You’re so polite!’_. Which left her and Tsuna standing awkwardly in the living room.

“W-we can go to m-my room, if you want.” Tsuna offered, shoving his hands in his pockets for lack of anything to do with them. “I have some g-games we can play.”

Really, this kid was adorable. Why his whole school seemed to hate him in canon was beyond her. The women at the circus would’ve been cooing over him the minute they laid eyes on him.

Falling into another bow, Leora flashed him a small grin over the brim of the invisible hat she just swept off her head.

“Lead the way Tsuna-san.” Tsuna blushed, but happily lead her up the stairs. Leora not so happily followed.

Now that she didn’t have to ignore her feet to keep moving, she was paying a lot more attention to how much they hurt. She made it about half way up before decided screw it all and bent forward until she was doing a handstand on the step in front of her. Taking a moment to ensure she had her balance, Leora proceeded up the stairs the rest of the way on her hands.

She nearly tumbled back down when Tsuna screeched.

“Why are you screeching?” she demanded once she caught her balance, tilting her head to glare at the gaping boy.

“H-how are, w-why?”

“Look, my feet hurt. Walking on my hands is easier anyway.” Taking a deep breath to scrounge up some patience, Leora gave Tsuna another look. “Can we go to your room now so I can sit down?”

“S-sure.”

* * *

 

Tsuna felt like banging his head on a wall.

He’d finally found Leora again after she ran away a few days ago and managed to convince her to come over to his house again. This was his chance to get her to be his friend.

He wasn’t doing a very good job of it.

So far he’d managed to run her over _again_ , make her fall when he’d tripped rushing them to the kitchen, and nearly sent her tumbling down the stairs because he shrieked like a baby when he’d seem her walking on her hands.

It had scared him to turn around and see a pair of feet where a head was supposed to be.

So he shut his mouth and lead them the rest of the way to his room, Leora walking on her hands just as easily as she could walk on her feet.

He honestly thought it was really cool that she could do that. Tsuna couldn’t even do a cartwheel without falling on his head.

Finally getting to his room – he’d kept it clean in case he’d be able to get her to come over again, and mama had been really happy he was picking up after himself now – he watched as Leora’s legs fell into a sideways split that had him wincing just looking at before crossing themselves behind the arms holding her up. Then she kind of just…sunk to the ground. He thought that was the right term anyway. It was all very smooth and graceful, like she’d been doing it for a long time.

If Tsuna tried that he’d break something.

Snapping out of it, he scrambled to get out the games he had. One or two board games and the video games that mama had gotten him for his birthday last year. He had hoped that she would choose the video games, so that he could show her he was good at something, but she didn’t do more than glance at them before looking at the board games. Tsuna tried very hard not to droop in disappointment.

“Y-you don’t like video games?” he slapped a hand over his mouth. _Why had he said that?_ This was going to ruin _everything_.

He blamed the warm feeling in his chest. It’d come back almost immediately after he ran her over, and it made him want to relax, like he could be completely comfortable around Leora. But they weren’t friends yet so he couldn’t do that at all.

“I never played them before. My family never had one.” Leora said matter-of-factly, breaking through his thoughts. “Do you want to play one? You’ll have to show me how.”

Tsuna brightened immediately, hurrying to set up his Legend of Zelda game. He could show her he was good at something!

* * *

 

Turns out Leora wasn’t good at video games. At all.

Tsuna had showed her which buttons did what, and how to pull off combo moves, but Leora just didn’t seem to get the hang of it. She’d end up staring at the controller instead of the screen and end up dying.

It was kind of funny.

Leora would get so frustrated when her Link character would die or when he wouldn’t do what she wanted she would glare at the screen, or the controller, or him when he caught her laughing at her, however silently.

She also started mumbling something under her breath in a language he couldn’t understand. Probably Italian. She did say her family was from there. After the forty fifth time her avatar died she gave up, throwing the controller away in disgust and hiding her face in the pillow she’d been holding in her lap.

“Video games suck.” He heard her whining, and Tsuna’s laughter wasn’t silent anymore.

Leora threw her pillow at him.

“Laugh all you want. _I’m_ choosing the next game and then I will have my revenge for this embarrassment Sawada.” She threatened, shaking her fist at him. He would’ve taken her seriously if it wasn’t for the slight twitch of her lips.

He noticed that his friend – hopefully? – didn’t really have a lot of facial expressions. It felt like she was wearing a mask, and something would slip out occasionally. Tsuna thought that meant she was starting to open up to him a bit.

Leora ended up choosing the deck of cards he’d thrown into the pile of games as more of an afterthought than an actual desire to use them. Apparently, if he was going to teach her something new, she was going to return the favor.

So he was learning how to play poker.

Tsuna was pretty sure gambling was bad, but Leora insisted that knowing how to play poker was important skill to have for when you’re older. She said it was something the people in her family would do at least once a month and it was a great way to have a social get together. And a good way to make some extra money. The grin she had when she said the last part reminded him a bit of Hibari-san, enough to make him shiver.

Tsuna didn’t have any money, but that didn’t seem to matter to Leora. They were using the cookies that mama had dropped off during their third video game attempt as chips.

He panicked at bit when she explained that the game had a lot to do with keeping track of numbers, he was really bad at math, but she didn’t get mad when he lost track of things or didn’t understand the rules. She would just calmly explain it again until it made more sense.

Tsuna was really proud when he was able to correctly guess how many kings were left in the deck. Even if it only happened once.

“You’re getting really good at this, Tsuna-san.” Leora praised as they both revealed their hands, a straight flush for her and two pair for him, and she scooped up the small stack of cookies to her side of the table. “If you keep practicing this, you’ll be cleaning me out in no time.”

Tsuna beamed at the praise, feeling more happy and relaxed than he had in a long time. Leora blinked at him, then rubbed her eyes a bit, mumbling something about genetics and then going off in more Italian.

Pushing all the cookies that she’d won back into the middle of the table, she had about fourteen of the twenty four his mama had brought up, she stretched making her back pop.

“It’s getting late. I should head home now.”

…And the relaxed feeling was gone.

“W-wouldn’t it be safer to stay the night?” he asked timidly, not wanting her to go when he was having so much more fun than he’d had in as long as he could remember. “It’s already d-dark.”

“Probably. But I literally just moved in today, so I need to head back.” Standing up Leora winced when she put her full weight on her feet.

“What about your f-feet? You don’t have s-shoes.” Tsuna desperately tried to reason, scrambling to his own feet. Leora’s usually composed face turned sheepish.

“Do you think I can borrow a pair of yours?” she asked hesitantly, running her fingers through her hair and scowling when they got caught in knots.

Tsuna really wanted to say no, the only excuse he had to make her stay, but she’d probably just walk down the street on her hands if she had to so he reluctantly handed over a pair of his flip flops. They were a little big on her.

“Thanks.” She said after a moment of testing the fit. “Are you free tomorrow? I do need to get a pair of my own, and I don’t know where the store is. Are you willing to play tour guide?”

“Sure!” he blurted out, calming down some when he realized she wasn’t going to disappear again. Her mask cracked again, showing a small smile. It wasn’t a mean or mocking smile, not like the kids at school gave him. She looked genuinely happy that he agreed to show her around. It was a little hard to wrap his head around.

Leora went down the stairs on her hands again, Tsuna not far behind being extra careful not to trip. That warm little flickering feeling made it easier to balance, but it was still really small and couldn’t really do more than warm the center of his chest so it took him a lot longer to get down than it did for her.

Mama was already in the kitchen, moving around and putting things in a laundry basket that Leora was holding…cleaning supplies? Why would Leora need cleaning supplies? Seeing his confused look her face turned embaressed.

“The apartment I moved into is really dirty. Nana-san’s letting me borrow some things to clean it up until I can get my own.”

Well, that made more sense, mama really liked Leora and was happy to help her, but why did Leora have to get the cleaning supplies? Wouldn’t it be her parent’s job to get stuff like that? They’d only just moved to Namimori so they wouldn’t know where the shops were. That was why she asked him to take her shopping tomorrow. Why would they send their daughter out alone in an unfamiliar area?

“Thank you again, Nana-san. I’ll return it as soon as I can.”

“Don’t worry about it Leora-chan.” Mama assured, patting Leora on the head. Leora’s face didn’t so much as twitch, but Tsuna could tell she didn’t like that. “I need to go shopping soon anyway. Just keep it.”

Leora still didn’t look happy but she bowed again before heading for the door, Tsuna only a few steps behind her.

“What t-time do you want to go t-tomorrow?”

“It’s more up to you isn’t it?” Leora shot back, one eyebrow raised. Tsuna blushed.

“We c-can go in the morning.” Leora thought it over, then nodded.

“I can come by around eight. Is that alright?”

Eight. Could Tsuna wake up that early? He was always waking up late for school so probably not. He was going to have to get mama to help him. And set his alarm clock. And maybe borrow his mama’s alarm clock.

“S-sounds good.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow then.” Leora gave him another small smile, and then she was gone, the door closing with a quiet click behind her.

Tsuna stared at it for a solid thirty seconds before he realized he probably should have offered to walk her home and he had probably been really rude. Scrambling to put his shoes on, he stumbled out the door after her, tripping just as he made it out of the gate.

Leora was already out of sight.

Drooping dejectedly, Tsuna trudged back inside and up to his room to set his alarm clock. He’d apologize for being rude tomorrow.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

* * *

 

_Starting tomorrow whatever life throws at me, I’m ducking so it hits someone else!_

* * *

 

Her hands were scratched and red, she was covered in dust, and her eyes burned like she’d used hot sauce in place of eye drops, but her apartment was clean. Making use of the cleaning supplies she’d coined off of Nana – who had been _delighted_ that the carney was already on her way to being a good housewife – Leora immediately set to scrubbing the minute she got back to her little shoebox place. She was proud to say that she could probably eat off the floor now. Glancing at the watch she’d taken off some drunken idiot that decided one of the alley’s near the rundown apartment was a great place to crash for the night, Leora winced.

And it only took her nine hours.

She wasn’t going to have time to catch up on any sleep if she was going to be on time to meet up with Tsuna. Hell, she’d have to rush if she wanted a bath. Striping as she shuffled down the cramped hallway/kitchen thing she stuffed her clothes in the washing machine with a stingy amount of the remaining laundry soap she had left after washing her bed. There wasn’t going to be time for them to dry next to the futon that was draped across the wire strung up between two walls to act as a clothes line, so she was going to go shopping soaking wet. Yay.

At least it was summer here and they should dry fast.

Running a bath that was lukewarm at best Leora set about scrubbing herself with the same soap she’d used on the floor.

Sluicing the last of the industrial strength cleaning solution out of her hair Leora went to go check on her clothes, ignoring the way she was dripping water onto her clean floor. The clothes were still full of suds, but that was easily fixed by throwing them in the sink and running the tap.

Wringing them out as best she could Leora used them to mop up the floor before wringing them out again.

Finally dressed with Tsuna’s flip flops on her newly bandaged feet, Leora risked a glance at herself in the bathroom mirror and snorted. Clean she may be, but her hair was a tangled mess and the bags under her eyes looked more like bruises. Well, didn’t she look charming?

Heading out, snagging an apple as more of an afterthought than an actual desire to eat, Leora locked up behind her then went downstairs to bang on her bitch of a landlady’s door. Rent was due after all.

There was some banging around and cursing. Lot of cursing. Leora didn’t know a few of those combinations of insults but made a mental note not to forget them before the door was wrenched open.

“Do yah know wha’ fucking time it is?” landlady snarled, eyes bloodshot and squinting against the weak sunlight streaming around the buildings. She smelled like she crawled out of a bottle which probably meant she had a hangover. Score.

Leora smiled sweetly. “Seven thirty-” she glanced at her watch, “-two. I have the rest of my rent.”

“An’ yah thought _now_ would be da time ta give it ta me?!” Leora was honestly surprised the old bat wasn’t growing horns and breathing fire at this point, her eyes were certainly red enough to count as a demon.

“Wouldn’t want you to think I was shorting you on the rent. Better to get it out of the way first thing and all that.” Shoving the remaining rent in her face, making her go cross eyed, Leora turned on a heel and skipped away whistling “Entry of the Gladiators” as loudly as she could. More cursing followed her around the corner and for another block before she couldn’t hear anymore.

Smirking, Leora picked up the pace a bit so she wouldn’t be late.

It was a good day.

* * *

 

 She got to the Sawada house with about a minute to spare, having sprinted the rest of the way after she turned a wrong corner and ended up lost for a few streets. Getting a map was going to be a priority if she didn’t want to end up climbing a light pole to get her bearings every time she got lost.

On the upside her clothes were half dry.

Being ushered into the kitchen by a cheerful Nana who didn’t seem to care about her appearance was just as disconcerting as the last time, as was the amount of food placed in front of her. Still she stubbornly munched her way through a few pieces of toast while she waited for Tsuna to wake up.

Thirty minutes later Nana was heading up the stairs to wake him since the dual blaring alarm clocks weren’t cutting it.

Leora heard a screech, a thump, some hurried footsteps, and then Tsuna was tumbling arse over teakettle down the stairs in his pajamas, head bouncing off the floor hard enough to make her wince.

Yanking him up into a sitting position, Leora felt around his head for any cuts before checking his eyes for a concussion. He looked a bit dazed, but his pupils were responding and he snapped out of it pretty quickly, throwing himself out of her reach with another screech as his face turned red.

Nana wasn’t far behind him coming down the stairs.

“Tsu-kun you shouldn’t do acrobatics in the house.” She chided, stepping around them to put another plate of food on the table for her son. Leora could only stare.

…Was this woman for real? Her son just obviously tripped and fell down a flight of stairs and _that’s_ all she has to say? Anime world or not, that’s bad fucking parenting.

Turning back to Tsuna she easily hauled him to his feet, then started bending his neck, arms, and legs to check for injuries.

“W-what are you doing?” the boy sounding so confused. Did nobody _ever_ check up on him after a fall like that?

“Making sure you didn’t break anything.” Leora grumbled irritable, releasing his arm and checking his eyes again. “Do you have a headache?” Tsuna shook his head.

“Good. Any nausea, ringing in your ears? Is the light too bright?” Another shake of the head and Leora was releasing a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.

“It doesn’t look like you have a concussion then. You need to be more careful Tsuna. That was dangerous.” She scolded, hands on her hip as she tried to glare the importance of safety into his head. It wasn’t working. For whatever reason, he looked more in awe than cowed.

“Tsu-kun, why don’t you go get dressed? Then you can eat breakfast.” Nana chirped, clapping her hands like she just had a great idea. Tsuna just scrambled back up the stairs while Leora let herself be ushered back to the kitchen table where more food was forced upon her.

She declined more toast, but accepted the tea that was practically shoved under her nose before residing into a baffled silence while she listened to Tsuna fumbling around upstairs.

She knew about the bullying, but if he was treated with such callous dismissal even at home no wonder he had so many self-esteem issues. The circus hadn’t coddled her, but they at least asked if she was okay when she took a tumble, helping her up and dusting her off when they didn’t.

It was normal for family to worry. That fact that his didn’t…stung, more than it probably should. Shaking her head, Leora put her dishes in the sink and went to wait for Tsuna at the foot of the stairs to catch him if he fell again.

It shouldn’t sting and she wasn’t going to let it bother her because she wasn’t going to get too involved with Sawada Tsunayoshi. She wasn’t needed and the mafia was something she had no interest in getting involved in. Tsuna was nothing more than a convenient way to keep from starving until she was stable enough in Namimori to be on her own and she figured out what she was going to do with her life now that her circus wasn’t an option.

If she resolved to teach him how to fall correctly that was protecting her meal ticket.

She did end up having to catch him again. He tripped three steps from the bottom and would have face planted had she not hooked an arm across his chest at the last minute.

Yeah, falling lessons were happening right after shoe shopping.

* * *

 

The shopping district was a lot bigger than Leora thought it would be.

Sure she’d been able to walk around the smaller cluster of shops, but she hadn’t been able to make it into the main shopping complex. She couldn’t risk catching the eye of a security guard. But with shoes, reasonably well fitting clothes, and Tsuna, she was able to make it farther in than her previous five steps.

The place was still pretty small compared to other places Leora had seen, but it seemed bigger on the inside than she’d given it credit for. It reminded her a bit of a small scale American mall.

The shoe store was thankfully similar to what she was used to in her own world. Ignoring the sales clerk who hovered around them like they were going to grab something and run, Leora dragged Tsuna over to the sports section, completely bypassing the girly flats and sandals that were originally offered when they’d first entered the store and Tsuna announced their intentions.

The options in her small price ranges were pretty bad. Thick soled and heavy shoes with weak stitching seemed to be popular, and were far from what she’d need. Anything heavy would weigh her down and mess up any acrobatics she would do, and thick soles would desensitize her feet to the point she wouldn’t notice a foot hold was bad until it was too late. The stitching probably wouldn’t last long with the kind of wear she expected on putting them through either. At least they all had good arches.

Sizes were an issue too. She knew European sizes, but she didn’t know how that transferred over into Japanese shoe sizes or what her current shoe size was other than really fucking small.

She settled for grabbing anything that vaguely looked like it would fit her and trying them all on.

It was a long and tedious process, requiring more laps around the store to be sure of the fit than Leora would have liked, but it didn’t seem to bother Tsuna much. He seemed perfectly happy taking all the discarded shoes back to the shelves to be stuffed haphazardly back into boxes wherever his own small height could reach.

Thirty minutes later Leora finally settled on a pair of grey and black shoes that had apparently been designed with the thought that kids old enough to wear them would have almost no clue how to tie shoes on their own. They were an ugly mix of Velcro and laces, but they were light enough for her purposes.

“Your total come to ¥5,526.”

It was also out of her price range. Damn it.

Ignoring Tsuna hovering nervously over her left shoulder, Leora gave the sales clerk the most innocent smile she could muster, praying it didn’t come off as fake as it felt.

“Okay. Just let me finish putting the shoes away. It’s bad if you don’t clean up after yourself.”

The clerk nodded approvingly, if somewhat surprised, as she scurried off to help Tsuna finish putting things up. If one of those trips conveniently took her past the purse of a lady wearing more sparkly rocks than her neck should be able to hold, well she doubted the lady would notice before Leora left.

 _Amma_ Eva wouldn’t be impressed with how her slight-of-hand tricks were being put to use, but it really couldn’t be helped.

Shoes paid for and firmly on her feet, Leora happily followed Tsuna out of the main shopping district and back towards his house.

“Sorry that took so long. I didn’t know my size in the Japanese Standard.”

“It was f-fine. I’m glad you got y-your shoes.” Tsuna told her shyly, hands jammed in his pockets and shoulders hunched up.

He didn’t really seem to mind, but Leora still felt kind of bad. Kids his age probably had better things to do than go shoe shopping with a stranger during their summer break.

Passing a takoyaki stand Leora decided food was as good a way to apologize as any and snagged his wrist. Food was always a good go to for apologies in the circus since actual possessions had to be kept at a minimum for convenience’s sake. Well, food _and_ liquor, but she doubted Tsuna would appreciate vodka or whiskey.

She ended up having to catch him as the abrupt change in motion had him tripping over his own feet, ignoring his protest as she bought both him and herself takoyaki.

“Y-you didn’t have to b-buy me anything.” Tsuna protested even as he stuck one of the treats in his mouth. Leora just shrugged, her own mouth full.

“You didn’t have to put up with a shopping trip. Feeding you is the least I could do.”

“Still, you d-don’t have to buy me things.” Tsuna pouted.

“I wanted too, but if it bothers you that much I can teach you how to fall instead.” Leora offered, seeing an opening. Tsuna choked on his takoyaki.

“Huh?” he sputtered out as Leora started pounding him on the back, _again_.

“Breath kid. And yes falling lessons. You fell headfirst down the stairs and you mother seemed to think that was normal. If you’re going to keep falling then I want to be sure you’re not going to kill yourself in the process.”

“T-there’s a _right way_ to fall?” Tsuna asked dubiously, face so confused that Leora couldn’t help but grin.

“Yep.” She confirmed cheerily. “Lot less painful in the long run, I can promise you that. So… wanna learn?”

Hopeful at the idea of less pain in his clumsy future, Tsuna nodded.

“Great. Can you take us to the park? Grass is a lot better to learn on than concrete.”

* * *

 

“The type of falling you’ll need to know it call a break fall. There are four types.” Leora explained to a surprisingly attentive Tsuna.

“The first is the forward fall where you catch yourself on your forearms.” She demonstrated, falling into what was basically an elbow plank with her palms pressed flat against the ground.

“The second is the backwards break fall, where you curve your back into the impact so you’ll roll with the momentum instead of just landing flat. If you throw your legs back as you go you can usually flip yourself so you’ll end up in a crouch instead of flat on your back.” Demonstrating the second fall, Leora waited for Tsuna’s nod of comprehension before moving on.

“The third is the side break fall. You’ll keep on leg straight while you bend the other leg to keep yourself angled towards your side, but you’ll curve your back like in the backwards break.” Keeping with the momentum, Leora flipped back to her feet, dusting off her hands.

“The fourth, and the one I think you use the most is the forward roll. Your shoulder will take the brute of it and you’ll keep the momentum going until you land on your feel again. Does that make sense?”

“How d-do you know all that?” Tsuna asked in wide-eyed awe. Leora just shrugged.

“Required for the family business. You don’t know how to fall, you’re not doing your job right. We’ll start with the forward roll.”

Twenty minutes in and Leora briefly wondered if she was this bad starting off. Tsuna was obviously trying, not even complaining about the number of bruises and scrapes he was getting, but he kept landing on his face. He couldn’t seem to get the hang of angling his body just so to actually let him roll with the movement instead of trying to dislocate his shoulder. She was surprised his nose wasn’t broken yet.

“You need to be able to roll from standing still before you throw yourself into it, Tsuna. Stop.”

Tsuna pouted at her from where he was sprawled out on the ground. “You can do it.”

Leora just raised an eyebrow. “I’ve been doing it for years. Come on, stand up and I’ll walk you through it again.”

Helping him plant his feet, Leora guided Tsuna through each movement and into the roll. He ended up on his knees instead of a crouch, but he’d successfully completed the fall. Then she had him do it again by himself. He ended up sprawled on his ass that time, but he still completed the role. His face couldn’t seem to decide whether it wanted to display shock or pride. It eventually settled on awe.

“I did it.” he whispered quietly, but tinged with excitement. “I did it.”

“Good job, Tsuna.” Leora praised, sincerely proud of the boy. “I think that’s enough for today. You have enough bruises for now. You can practice more tomorrow.”

Tsuna managed to scramble to his feet before she could help him up, so she settled for helping dust off all the grass and dirt from his clothes. She winced at the amount of grass stains on his back.

“I hope Nana-san doesn’t get mad about your clothes.”

“It’ll b-be fine.” Tsuna assured. “I get my clothes dirty all the t-time.”

“The price of being clumsy?” Leora teased. Tsuna looked away, running a hand through his spiky hair.

“Something like that.” He mumbled, before perking up. “D-do you want to come over for lunch?”

No, not really. She wanted to get her stuff from the bridge and then sleep for a few hours. But he was offering food. She still may not feel like eating, but she was going to need it. The money she got from the lady’s purse wasn’t going to last her very long.

“Sure.” Tsuna _beamed_ at her and she had to blink at the sheer amount of sparkles that popped into existence around his head.

Leora had no clue why there were so many battles in the anime. All Tsuna would have to do was smile and the enemy would either be blinded or stunned long enough to take out because it sure as hell threw her off every time.

Maybe anime people were just used to it?

Latching on to his wrist, Leora just looked at him expectantly. “Lead the way, Tsuna.”

It would take a few minutes for the spots to leave her vision. He’d _better_ not lead her into a light post.

* * *

 

Tsuna didn’t lead her into a light pole. He led her into what looked like a shake down from the local yakuza.

A group of men wielding pipes and sporting tattoos surrounded a man who clearly had the shit beaten out of him. He was blubbering something about how he would get their money back, and how he just needed more time, and please don’t hit him anymore.

The yakuza would just jeer and kick him the more he blubbered.

Tsuna was never leading her around again if he decided shady looking alleys were a good short cut.

This…was not good. Eyeing the distance between them and the yakuza, Leora slowly started inching them backward, hand slapped over Tsuna’s mouth to keep him from screeching. They hadn’t been noticed yet. They only had to make it out of sight before they could bolt. They were almost out when a hand clamped down on her shoulder, another one around Tsuna’s arm.

“Little far from home, aren’t yah kids?” a voice purred. “You shouldn’t’ve seen that.”

Goddamnit.

Dropping to the ground, and out of the surprised thug’s hand, Leora rolled behind him, kicking out his knee and then in the crotch. He crumpled like wet paper.

Grabbing Tsuna, Leora wasted no time in hauling ass out of the alley, practically dragging Tsuna behind her. Curses and heavy footfalls started up behind them and Leora made them run even faster, Tsuna displaying an impressive lung capacity as he kept screaming at the top of his lungs despite how fast they were running.

Leora didn’t have a clue where she was going. She just kept taking random rights and lefts to try to lose the thugs, even though it wasn’t working. She also couldn’t just scale a building. Tsuna was with her and she didn’t think he’d be able to get more than a foot off the ground without help, and that would waste too much time.

Gritting her teeth, Leora took another sharp left, practically carrying Tsuna at this point.

Where the _hell_ were all the people from this morning? Was it some kind of unspoken law of this universe for the civilians to make themselves scares when _anything_ criminal related happened? If so, this world was utter _bullshit_.

They made it another three blocks before Tsuna was a little too slow moving around an obstacle and tripped, dragging Leora down with him from the death grip she had on his arm. They landed in a tangle of limbs and wasted precious time trying to untangle themselves.

“We would da gone easy on you brats if you hadn’t run.” The same thug that had grabbed them tried to growl out, but he lost some of the intimidation factor with how much he was wheezing. The rest of the yakuza were quick to surround them.

Baring her teeth, Leora put her back to the wall, shoving Tsuna behind her. His fingers dug into her shirt with an iron grip.

“Six men against two kids? Hardly seems fair.” She ground out, trying to keep them talking instead of beating. Thug number one just sneered.

“Life ain’t fair brat.” Taking a pipe from one of the others, he raised it in the air menacingly. “And we can’t have yah running to the police.”

“What makes you think we were going to the police?” Leora asked pleasantly, trying to play up the clueless little kid factor, and successfully throwing the thugs off balance. “We didn’t see anything, there was no reason for you to interrupt our jogging.”

The thugs just laughed.

“Nice try kid. But you ain’t getting out of this.”

Settling more firmly in front of Tsuna, Leora resigned herself to getting the shit beat out of her. She was almost half her normal height and strength with a person who didn’t know the first thing about defending themselves; she wasn’t getting out of this in one piece. She planned on shoving Tsuna away at the first opening and having him run like hell, but the chances of her getting out of it were even slimmer than his.

Tsuna was the main character so he wasn’t going to die. If she didn’t die from this, she was teaching him self-defense. Fuck waiting for Reborn if this is the kind of trouble he gets into.

The yakuza didn’t get farther than raising their pipes before the one on the farthest edge of their group was sent flying into a wall by another kid half their size.

Grey eyes narrowed at the display, and tonfas were held up.

“I’ll bite you to death.”

* * *

 

Leora just stared in awe while Tsuna gaped in horror at the sheer beating the yakuza were getting.

Hibari Kyouya was brutal, but there was an elegance to the beating. Each move was smooth and fluid, transitioning perfectly to the next stance. It reminded Leora of watching _Afi_ Viktor working with one of his axes.

And if she took some satisfied glee out of the thugs screaming, it was her due. Assholes were going to do the same to them.

Snapping out of it, Tsuna began frantically tugging on her clothes. “L-leora-san, we need to g-get out of h-here.”

“Why? The thugs are being taken care of.”

“Because that’s Hibari-san!” Tsuna hissed, trying not to attract the skylark’s attention.

“Why does that matter?”

“He’ll bite us next!”

Huh. Kinky. Leora never did understand why he chose the catchphrase ‘I’ll bite you to death’. That could be taken wrong in so many contexts.

“What did we do to deserve that?” Tsuna had gone dead white and was shaking like a leaf at this point, still frantically tugging at her shirt to get her away from the alley and Hibari.

“Because we’re-“

“Herbivores.”

Tsuna’s mouth snapped shut with an audible _clack_ , eyes somehow managing to get even bigger as he shrunk into himself to be less noticeable. Leora did _not_ think Hibari Kyouya was that scary.

Turning away from the scared brunet, Leora game Hibari a short bow.

“Thanks for your help.” Tsuna obviously wasn’t going to thank him, he looked ready to pass out, so that meant she had too, “I couldn’t see a good way to get out of that without casualties on our end.”

The carney had a brief moment to register the annoyance flash across the skylark’s face before a tonfa was aimed towards her head.

Childs body or not, Leora still had twelve years of muscle memory and fighting instincts drilled into her, and she hardly registered the attack before she was reacting. Stepping to the side so the weapon brushed past her head, Leora grabbed the wrist, twisting it, before using the leverage from the grasp her other hand had on the upper arm to throw Hibari over her shoulder and farther into the alley.

Her reaction registered the second he hit the ground.

Leora had a sinking feeling as Hibari from the crouch he’d ended up in after rolling with her throw, eyes never leaving her.

She knew that look. It was the same look _Afi_ Viktor got when he and _Sifu_ Yaozu started trying to kill each other. It was two parts murderous, one part annoyance, and one part interest. Basically, his sadistic happy look.

Turning on a heel, Leora bolted out of the alley, wishing she’d run when Tsuna told her too.

Hibari Kyouya was right behind her.

* * *

 

Tsuna felt like screaming.

The day had been fine up until he’d led them down the wrong shortcut in a rush to get to his house and ended up getting chased by yakuza.

He had thought they were going to die.

And he felt ashamed that he did nothing but hide behind Leora. He was the boy, so he should’ve been the one protecting her, not the other way around even if she did make him feel safe.

Then Hibari showed up and their chances of living had gone up right until Leora threw Hibari over her shoulder when he tried to hit her head – he did that to everyone when he was annoyed, and Tsuna didn’t think it was _possible_ to dodge Hibari-san let alone _throw_ him – and Hibari-san got mad.

Now Leora was running for her life. Again.

Tsuna took off after them.

He knew he couldn’t fight Hibari-san, but he had to do _something_. He couldn’t let his friend die. She was the only one he had.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

* * *

 

_In training in self-defense there is not cost. It’s an investment._

_-Coach Micheal Joyce_

* * *

 

 

As a whole Leora was fond of hard workers. The sheer amount of persistence and determination needed to pursue something was admirable, and she could relate well enough due to her own determinations to do well in the circus. Her opinion was slightly bias considering she was a Hufflepuff, but it still stood.

So she had to give it to the skylark; he was persistent. A persistent little shit, but persistent none the less.  Leora didn’t think even at her angriest she would have chased someone across half a town and up a light post, only to prowl around the base like an impatient dog.

He’d tried to follow her up, but his skill in climbing while avoiding being kicked in the face was severely lacking. There also wasn’t anything conveniently nearby for him to use as a spring board to knock her down.

Small mercies.

Shifting her weight slightly so her balance was perfect, Leora propped her chin in her hand and stared down at the glaring child with a bland look.

 _Afi_ Viktor was a lot more intimidating than this boy currently was, and unless he managed to pull battle axes out of _fucking nowhere_ on a regular basis he never would be.

“Is there a reason you chased me all over town, or are you just the Namimori welcoming committee?” Leora eventually asked after another few minutes of just staring at one another, voice as bland as her face. Kyouya just narrowed his eyes.

“Fight me.”

“Your hospitality could use a little work.” Kyouya’s lip curled.

“Fight me herbivore.”

“No.” Leora snapped bluntly, voice slipping from bland to exasperated. She didn’t want to fight. She didn’t want to play some fucked up game of cat and mouse all over Namimori. She didn’t want to go over to Tsuna’s where his seemingly high mother would try to stuff her with food and squeal. Leora wanted to get her shit from the bridge, lock her door, and sleep for twelve hours. Preferably without nightmares.

“Find someone else to get a battle high from. I’m not interested.”

“I will bite you to death.”

“Your vocabulary is severely lacking. Might I recommend a dictionary?”

Kyouya bristled at the smart ass remark, but Leora still didn’t do more than continue to stare.

They stayed like that for another two hours; Kyouya prowling around the base, occasionally trying to climb up while Leora stayed perched on top of the light, shifting her weight from foot to foot and occasionally dozing off. She always caught herself before falling, but the near misses just seemed to enrage the skylark more. He looked about ready to just chuck his tonfas at her when Tsuna stumbled on scene and Kyouya’s attention snapped to the brunet.

He looked terrible.

His face and arms were covered in scrapes and bruises, dirt and leaves were sticking out of his hair, his face was bright red, and he was panting so hard while hunched over his knees Leora wondered why he hadn’t passed out yet.

“Are you alright Tsuna?” she called out when he collapsed onto his back still breathing hard. His reply was a choked off gargle.

“Do… you need an ambulance?” Tsuna flopped his arm in a vague gesture that she couldn’t tell if that was a yes or a no.

“The herbivore is fine.” Kyouya cut in, dismissing Tsuna and focusing on the curly haired foreigner on top of the light post, who shot him an incredulous look.

“The herbivore sounds like he’s _dying_.”

Kyouya didn’t seem to care. He just continued to watch Leora like a hawk.

Just done with the day, Leora heaved a sigh.

“Look, I’m exhausted. I haven’t slept for more than an hour or two these past couple days and you chasing me halfway across the fucking town hasn’t helped much.” She pointed out somewhat grouchily, but continued on like she didn’t see Kyouya’s eyes narrow again, “I wouldn’t put up much of a fight right now. Can we do this later? When I’m not about to keel over and die like him.”

Hooking a thumb in Tsuna’s direction Leora could practically see the gears turning in the skylarks head. He took in the bags under her eyes and the tired set of her shoulders, weighing his impatience against his want of a good fight. The fight won out.

“One week herbivore.” With that, Kyouya turned on a heel and stalked off, stepping over Tsuna in the process.

She now had a date to potentially get the shit beat out of her by a brat that strongly reminded her of a younger _Afi_ Viktor and only a week to learn the town well enough to avoid him like the plague. Fantastic. Sarcasm fulling intended.

Leora gave him five minutes before sliding down the light post with a sigh, trudging over to check on the still wheezing Tsuna.

His face wasn’t as red as it was to begin with and he no longer sounded like a dying whale so Leora ruled out needing an ambulance. Leora plopped down beside him.

“What the hell happened to you?” she asked, slouching forward to get a better look at Tsuna’s face.

“T-trying _huff_ to find _huff huff_ you and H-Hibari-san.”

“Wait,” Leora straightened up, “did you run all the way here?”

“Y-yes.”

“It’s been almost _three_ _hours_.”

“I-I got _huff huff_ lost.” Leora couldn’t help it, she barked out a laugh.

“That’s still pretty impressive Tsuna.” Ignoring how his face turned red again she picked a few twigs and leaves out of his hair, she twirled the stems absently, oddly fascinated. “Why were you running after us anyway?”

Tsuna mumbled something unintelligible.

“You’re gonna have to repeat that.”

More unintelligible mumbling.

“Words Tsuna. I need words.”

“I-I’m supposed to p-protect you.” He finally got out, eyes firmly not on her face. Leora’s face went flat.

“I don’t need protecting.” Tsuna actually looked kind of angry at that, hauling himself into a shaky upright position.

“I-I’m the boy. I’m _supposed_ to protect you.” He told her firmly, actually meeting her eyes with determination.

Leora whacked him on the head. Ignoring the hurt looked he was giving her the carney crossed her arms.

“That way of thinking needs to die right fucking now.”

“B-but-“

“Everyone is capable to protecting themselves Tsuna.” She cut him off, “Coddling people won’t be doing them any favors.”

It was made clear at the circus that you needed to be able to protect yourself while traveling. You wouldn’t always stay on the fair ground, and even if you did there were always going to be some asshole or another. The workers had shit to do, they couldn’t act as bodyguards every time the girls wanted to go out. The very idea that she needed protection just because was insulting.

“But tou-san said that b-boys had to protect the girls! “

“Your tou-san is a moron.” She told him bluntly. “I’m a girl and I’ve been protecting you instead of the other way around.” Tsuna winced at that, looking back at his feet.

Leora sighed, scrubbing her face to wake herself up more, bemoaning the fact that she had to deal with this shit.

“Look, being protected isn’t something to be ashamed of Tsuna.” She tried to explain, but she was still really tired and she couldn’t focus on the words that well. “You protect people that need it, until they learn to protect themselves. Boy or girl it doesn’t matter. I haven’t needed protecting in years because my family taught me early. You’re still learning how to fall. You need it.”

“But-“

“Your tou-san is a moron and you shouldn’t listen to him. Or Nana. She’s not all there, but that’s not the point.” Stumbling to her feet, Leora reached out a hand to help the wide eyed boy off the ground. “Don’t be ashamed of needing protecting Tsuna. You only need to be ashamed of being protected if you’re not doing anything to learn how to protect yourself.”

Stretching out the kinks she got from crouching on the light pole and then sitting on the ground, the carney checked her new shoes to make sure they held up decently.

“I’m about to keel over so I’m going to go now. Be careful on you way home and stretch before you go to sleep. Your body will thank you in the morning.”

She was about half way down the street before Tsuna started shouting behind her.

“Wait!” Reluctantly turning around, Leora watched Tsuna scramble to catch up with her, tripping over his own feet but surprisingly falling into a half decent roll and landing on his ass instead of his face. Getting to his feet he fell into a hasty bow that almost had him toppling over again.

“C-can you teach me to p-protect myself?!”

Leora eyed the top of his fluffy head. She didn’t want to mess up the plot, and she really didn’t want to get involved. At all. But – and wasn’t that an annoying little word that she’d been having to use a lot lately – he was eager to learn, eager to change, eager to not be weak anymore. She could relate to that. And she appreciated it.

Sighing she patted his head and took in the large, hopeful eyes that stared back at her.

Learning the basics wouldn’t change much, and it would only help him in the future. It would also give her something to focus on while she got her life together. It also wouldn’t get her too involved. She had roughly three years before Reborn showed up, and as long as she was gone by then and Tsuna didn’t improve drastically – his seal insured that – then no one would think twice about her and come looking. It wouldn’t also be easier to get Nana to buy the bottles of sake for her landlady than figuring out a way to steal them herself.

“Practice falling. I’ll be at the park in two days. If you’ve gotten better at that I’ll teach you something else.”

Reaching her stupidly short child arms up to pat his head one last time, Leora turned and walked off, not seeing the starry eyed look Tsuna aimed her way or the grin that split his face as she walked around the corner.

She still had to get her shit from the bridge before she went back to her ‘home’. She really hoped her bed was dry now.

* * *

 

Tsuna didn’t remember getting home after Leora left, or much of what his Mama said when she saw the state of his clothes after his mad and clumsy dash through town trying to find his only friend. He vaguely recalled taking a bath, but that was mostly just realizing that his skin was clean when he was putting on new clothes.

He was too focused on what Leora said.

She made more sense that his tou-san’s long ago lesson on being a man did, and she didn’t make him feel bad about being weak either. She didn’t make fun of him. She told him he only had to feel bad if he didn’t try to get stronger like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

He did get a bit upset when she had insulted his Mama and tou-san, but he figured that was because she was tired.

And she said she would teach him! Leora could throw Hibari-san over her shoulder and not get bitten to death when he chased her, so her family taught her really well. And now she was going to teach him! He just had to get better at falling.

Despite it only being five in the afternoon, Tsuna crawled into bed. He was really tired after today, and he figured that a nap would do him some good before he started practicing.

He was asleep a few seconds after he closed his eyes.

* * *

It wasn’t until the next morning that he remembered Leora told him to stretch before going to sleep.

He really wished he had.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

* * *

 

_All bad habits start slowly and gradually and before you know it you have the habit and the habit has you._

_-Zig Ziglar_

* * *

 

Barricaded in her apartment, buried under the sorry excuse she had for a blanket, and curled around the belongings she finally managed to get from the bridge, Leora almost felt safe.

Almost.

Nightmares didn’t do much for a person’s sense of security.

Dreams of burning tents and screaming aside, Leora was warm and perfectly content to stay in the blanket bed and curled around her stuff like a dragon guarding its hoard. God knows that those things were her treasures now. They wouldn’t be leaving her apartment unless absolutely necessary. The locket would stay with her. And maybe the knives. Probably a good idea to keep the knives with her.

Shifting to get more comfortable, the carney debated fishing out the flask of whiskey in an attempt to get more sleep. She had always been a sleepy drunk, and the flask was more than enough to get her small body completely shit faced.

She had at least two more weeks before she needed to get the sake for the landlady and she didn’t have to meet Tsuna at the park until tomorrow. She didn’t need to actually _do_ anything so nothing was really stopping her from carrying out her plan.

Except her low funds. And lack of basic necessities. And lack of knowledge of the area which she would need to avoid Kyouya, all of which she would need to leave her apartment to get.

Goddamnit.

Growling in frustration, Leora crawled out of her nest and went to the bathroom to stick her head under the tap. It was always easier to comb her hair out when wet, and even though is wasn’t as matted as it had been thanks to the baths she’d had at Tsuna’s house, it was a close thing. She’d get less attention if she looked less like a street rat.

Five minutes later and still no luck getting the snarls out of the shoulder length tresses, Leora gave up and took a knife to her hair.

The back ended up being only about an inch long because of all the tangles she had to cut out. The top was left slightly longer in hope that the curls would poof up a bit once they dried and hide the sloppy hack job.

Running her fingers through her much shorter hair Leora frowned. She wasn’t happy about this. At all. But it was more manageable and she wouldn’t need to find a brush or pay someone to cut it. It was just hair. It would grow back eventually. And hopefully look better when it dried.

Cleaning up the hair didn’t take more than a few minutes. Putting the futon away with her things crammed underneath it in the closet took closer to ten but she was tiny and tired and despite being threadbare the thing was big.

Figuring out how to hide the knives on her person took a bit longer. The thigh holster they were set in was too big for her smaller frame, no matter how much she tightened it. Not that that was much of an option; it wouldn’t have fit underneath her shorts anyway so she couldn’t hide it.

Attaching them her arms was out too – Nana had given her a T-shirt to wear and short sleeves weren’t ideal. She settles for strapping them around her waist. It would be awkward to get to them, but it was better than nothing.

Locking up behind her, Leora set out to steal more shit and find the map she’d been trying to get her hands on for the week she’d been in this world.

* * *

 

Getting supplies hadn’t been that hard. They were doing another special sale thing at the shopping district so Leora had plenty of funds to work with as long as she was cheap.

She managed to get some basic bowls and utensils, a few mugs, two towels, socks, underwear, some actual shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste, toilet paper, laundry detergent and clothes pins, an old looking stove top kettle, and some tea and coffee. She even managed to get a shopping bag to put it all in. But she couldn’t find a damn map.

Map of the shopping district sure. Map of the entire town? Nada.

Dropping her purchases off at home and hiding the remaining money she had in the mini fridge, Leora set out again to just explore the town – from the rooftops because she wasn’t going to give that advantage up is she could help it – and learn the layout herself.

Starting at the shopping district, Leora just circled out from there.

The town was pretty straight forward about its set up which was a great relief. There was the shopping district, the market district, restaurant district, residential areas, the three Namimori schools, the warehouse district, and then the red light district.

The red light district was surprisingly tame compared to some of the other places Leora had seen. It seemed to be mostly made up of strip clubs, bars, and pachinko parlors. A lot more yakuza were in the area, but criminal activity kind of went hand-in-hand with red light districts everywhere.

It didn’t help that it was located not far from the warehouse district. That explained _a lot_.

Perched on the roof of the cleverly named strip joint _Parallel_ Leora eyed the openings of alleys and the small nooks and crannies she could use to hide in once nighttime rolled around. It would be easier to get cash from this part of town – no one brings credit cards to strip joints – but considerable more dangerous given who was around and she stuck out like a sore thumb with her current age and height.

She was judging the distance between one entrance and a drain pipe when somebody cleared there throat below her. A middle aged man was on the sidewalk below her, arms crossed in a way that wouldn’t crease the fancy suit he was wearing.

“Any particular reason you’re on my roof?” Well shit. Owner. Of course he had to be one of the few people who looked up.

“Taking in the sights. This building has a great view.” Leora called down cheerfully, internally prepping herself to start sprinting across the rooftop the minute he made a grab for his phone. The man just raised an eyebrow.

“A little young to be in this part of town, don’t you think?” Leora just shrugged.

“Old enough to know what it is. Besides, poles are fun.” She chirped, hopping up to perch on the edge of the building to get a better view of the street and to make the man uncomfortable. It was working if the look on his face was anything to go by. The other eyebrow rose to match the first.

“You know what poles are? And think they’re fun?!” He sounded outraged which threw Leora for a loop. She was an acrobat so of course she knew how to work a pole, but people – usually men – started leering or looking interested when the subject was brought up, not outraged. She puzzled over that for a few before it clicked, and she barely resisted the urge to face-palm. She was physically between the ages of eight and ten. Any decent adult would be horrified that a kid – who seemed completely at ease in what was easily the bad part of town – knew how to pole dance. Middle age suit man apparently had morals.

Point for his character but she still had to fix her mistake before he called child services and the cops.

“Family of acrobats.” She informed him bluntly, “Poles are one of the first things you learn how to use.”

He calmed down a bit, but still looked skeptical. “So you decide a strip club would be the best place to go instead of a gym?”

“Gyms don’t usually have poles. Strip clubs do.” She answered honestly enough. When the circus had been moving, her and the others would frequently make use of the strip clubs along the way. It was just more practical to practice on one already set up than waste time unpacking their own equipment for a few hours and repacking it again. The owners of the clubs never minded as long as they came during the day when the clubs were closed for workers to practice and payed for the use of the pole. Now she was probably going to have to use light poles to keep from getting rusty unless she found a semi-decent person in this district to let her practice.

Kind of like the person on the street.

Leora would have to be absolutely sure about him before she asked, but it had potential. He didn’t give off the scum-of-the-earth vibe that most owner of places like these did.

“What times do your girls usually come to practice?”

“What?” he squawked, back to sounding scandalized. Leora had to fight back the smirk that wanted to surface at his discomfort.

“What times do your girls usually come to practice?”

“…Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from four to nine. Why?”

Leora fought back a grimace at how early she’d have to get up be able to watch the girls come in and how they acted. Still had to be done though.

“It was nice meeting you.” She called out instead of answering. Jumping over to the next building, Leora fell into a light jog back to her apartment completely done with exploring for the day.

Safely barricaded in her apartment, she set about putting her things where she wanted them, taking out her futon again, and brushing her teeth for the first time in over a week, and putting on a better fitting and clean pair of underwear to sleep in while Tsuna’s clothes were thrown in the wash.

Finally snuggled down in her futon, Leora did her best to fall back asleep for the rest of the day.

She effectively ignored the nagging voice in the back of her mind telling her she forgot to get something important while she was out.

It couldn’t have been that important if she forgot it.

* * *

 

It wasn’t until the next morning that Leora realized she had told Tsuna a day and a place to meet up, but she hadn’t told him a time. Not everyone was conditioned to be up and working at ungodly hours of the morning like she was.

Downing the coffee that was mediocre at _best_ to make herself feel more human, Leora debated what to do.

On one hand, she could go to his house first thing and see when he wanted to start. On the other, she could just go to the park and wait for Tsuna to show up.

It was only six o’clock now according to her watch, but it was the ass crack of dawn. She highly doubted either Tsuna or his mother were up yet.

She weighed the pros and cons a bit more as she downed another cup of the horrible coffee before eventually settling on the park. She could get her own workout in while it was still void of people. Tsuna would show up eventually.

Rinsing out her cup in the sink, Leora set out for the park, firmly locking the door behind her.

It was deserted just like she thought it would be. Taking off her shoes and socks, Leora started going through a yoga routine and the pretzel stretches that she’d been doing since she was six years old. It only took about an hour, but the carney was more than a little irked when she finished. De-aging hadn’t affected her flexibility – if anything it helped it – but her strength was lacking. She couldn’t hold certain poses as long as she could as an adult because her muscles were smaller and less defined. She still had her six pack thankfully enough; if she didn’t have decent core strength she was screwed.

She was also just a tiny bit vain about it. Just a little.

Stretching done, Leora started going through katas, working on each styles till her muscles burned and she had to switch or risk a cramp. Cartwheels came next, then handstands. Pushups, sit ups, squats, leg lifts and tumbling all blurred together after that as she went through the motions of keeping her body capable of preforming.

By the time children started showing up with their parents to play the sun was fully out, birds were chirping, and Leora wanted to die. She was just barely dragging her feet to keep up the pace and her arms felt like lead. Mother of _fuck_ kid’s bodies had no stamina.

Even worse was that she only now realized she forgot to grab one of the few water bottles she’d managed to squirrel away. There were water fountains around, but she still felt like dying.

Giving up, she staggered over to a tree – which was coincidentally the one she first met Tsuna under – and collapsed with a groan, breathing hard.

A glance at her watch had her groaning anew. It was only nine thirty. So her stamina wasn’t as bad as she thought, she just over did it a bit. Or a lot. That would explain the swimmy vision. Shit, she hated being a kid. This would’ve been, if not easy then bearable, if she was still an adult.

And Tsuna still wasn’t there yet.

Forcing herself to breathe evenly, Leora surveyed the small gathering of children and parents that were already at the park. The majority were running around like chipmunks on crack so she figured that they were the hyperactive kids.

Leora didn’t know what time the non-hyperactive kids woke up, but she was pretty sure Tsuna was in that category. From what she remembered from the anime he leaned more towards lazy so he probably wasn’t going to wake up till noon. At least.

Deciding a nap wouldn’t hurt while she waited, Leora quickly climbed the tree and got settled down between two thick branches. The bark dug uncomfortably into her skin but it was better than the alternative. If she stayed on the ground Tsuna could keep with the trend of running her over. Or worse, the kids already here might decide that they want to play with her. Taking another look at the screeching children, Leora shuddered.

Yeah, no thank you.

* * *

 

It hadn’t been more than thirty minutes according to her watch when a very distinctive screech woke her up.

“HIIIEEEEEEEEEE!”

Sitting bolt upright at the noise Leora had to pinwheel her arms to keep her balance, failing horrible when another screech made her jerk. Grabbing onto the nearest branch like a sloth was the only thing keeping her from falling, and gave her a lovely upside down view of the park.

And the group of kids beating the shit out of Tsuna.

The brunet himself was curled up on the ground, trying to protect his head and stomach as four boys kicked him, the rest of the kids on the playground gathered around them and cheering.

The few adults at the other end of the park were chatting on a group of benches clustered in a picnic area. They were also stubbornly ignoring what there spawn were doing.

Another vicious kick had Tsuna shrieking again and Leora saw red.

* * *

 

Tsuna just wanted this day to end.

He’d originally planned to be at the park by eight since that’s when he met up with Leora last time, but he slept through the alarms again and Mama hadn’t woken him up until nine. Then he had to take almost an hour to stretch because everything still _hurt_ from running across Namimori and then practicing falling like Leora told him too.

The stretching hurt a lot too but not as much as he would if he didn’t.

He had finally made it to the park, but he didn’t see Leora’s curly hair anywhere. He searched the playground, the picnic area, and around the bathrooms before he headed towards the trees. She seemed to like climbing stuff and since he already checked the jungle gym that left the trees.

He didn’t even make it halfway before the other kids noticed ‘Dame Tsuna’.

Edogawa Yuji, one of the main bullies from school, had stopped him and demanded to know why he was here since parks were only for people who had friends. He’d shoved him when he said he _was_ meeting a friend. Then he demanded pocket money to make up for the fact that it was summer and he couldn’t demand Tsuna’s lunch money.

By that time Edogawa’s friends and the rest of the kids at the park noticed him and crowded around them until Tsuna was completely surrounded and wouldn’t be able to run away.

Tsuna didn’t have any pocket money on him - had even emptied his pockets to prove it - and had politely as he could while stuttering and shaking in fear asked if he could go so he could find his friend.

The next thing he knew, he was on the ground.

Edogawa was kicking him, his friends were kicking and punching him while the other kids laughed, and all he could do was curl up, wait till it was over so he could limp home and see if Leora would come by his house. He’d have to tell her that he was sick and couldn’t learn today, but it was better than her seeing him as ‘Dame Tsuna’. She could decide to not be his friend and look at him with the same disappointed look his Mama gave him when he came home a mess.

He _really_ want a friend.

“Hey asshats!” Smack! “GAHH!”

Tsuna blinked a few times, trying to get the dirt out of his eyes as he squinted around him in confusion. No one was kicking him anymore and the laughing had stopped. Someone moved to stand over him and he flinched, waiting for another kick. But it didn’t come.

“ _What the fuck do you think you’re doing_?” the person above him demanded quietly and Tsuna could finally tell who was standing over him and he sincerely wished she wasn’t.

Leora was standing between him and the bullies, feet set and body relaxed in a way that reminded Tsuna of Hibari-san, and a blank face shadowed by the fringe of her much shorter hair.

One of the bullies was on the ground, clutching his bleeding nose and wailing.

Leora kicked him in the ribs once, a quick sharp jab to get his attention, and glared at him. Tsuna couldn’t see her eyes from his spot on the ground, but from the way the bully froze up Tsuna guessed she had a glare _rivaling_ Hibari-san’s.

“Shut the fuck up.” She ordered, dismissing him instantly and focusing back on the group of bullies still standing. She didn’t even twitch when he scrambled to his feet and took off crying.

“You all had better have a _damn_ good reason why I shouldn’t _break_ you little cocksuckers into a million _fucking pieces_ or you’d better start running. Not that it’ll do ya much good.” Leora’s mouth split open into a grin that was all teeth, “You’re fucked either way.”

Tsuna didn’t know what all of those words meant – just that they were bad words – but her meaning came across loud and clear. The bullies looked terrified.

“What’s going on here?” Turning his attention away from Leora, Tsuna shifted so he was looked at the group of angry mothers who were making their way into the crowd, the crying kid with the bloody nose was clinging to the woman in the lead. She looked furious.

The other kids were quick to hide behind their mothers, shooting Leora and Tsuna smug smiles now that they knew they weren’t the ones in trouble.

The angry woman stuck her finger in Leora’s face in a way that reminded Tsuna of the way he’d seen his neighbors scolding their dog. Tsuna was honestly surprised Leora didn’t bite it off with the amount of hostility he could _feel_ coming off her in waves.

He had to fight back the hysterical giggle that was trying to bubbling up in his chest. Laughing wouldn’t help _anything_.

“Do you know how much trouble you’re in? You broke my son’s nose!” The woman fumed.

“You shouldn’t have raised him to be an asshole.” Was the blunt reply, and if possible the woman looked even more outraged.

“Do NOT use that language with me brat. You’re going to tell me who your parents are and then there will be consequences. You can’t just kick and hit other kids!”

Tsuna knew he wasn’t very smart, but even he could see the irony in that. Leora apparently could too because she started _smiling_ like that again and even the woman looked kind of scared.

“What makes you think I would be worried about a _self-absorbed cunt_ who can’t even notice hers and every other hell spawn in this park were _beating the shit_ out of someone, hmm? Do you think anything you say will stop me from returning the favor to those _inbred shit stains_ you had the misfortune to birth? And you think my family would get me in trouble? Would be _angry_ with me?” Leora’s grin got even wider as she barked out a laugh, “My family would’ve already strung them up by their ankles and used them for target practice while they mounted your head on a fucking pike, you plastic faced harpy. Teach the little shits manners or _I will_.”

Turning sharply, Leora hooked an arm under Tsuna’s, hauled him up and marched off before he could get his feet underneath him properly and away from the shell shocked crowd. She pretty much carried him out of the park.

They made it six blocks before she set him down gently on a bench and started to pat him down for injuries…which didn’t really match the still murderous look on her face.

Tsuna didn’t think _anyone_ could be scarier that Hibari-san, but apparently he was wrong. Leora could be a lot scarier and that glare was zeroed in on _him_.

He should’ve been worried, anxious, ashamed, and terrified.

He wasn’t.

Sure he was a bit anxious since she wasn’t talking, and he was a bit ashamed that she saw him get beat up, but it was only a little bit. He still didn’t know how to protect himself yet and she said it was fine as long as he kept learning.

So no, he didn’t feel scared. He felt warmer than he’d been in a long time, a bit achy – okay a lot achy – calm, content, and…

He felt safe.

He _was_ safe. Leora was here and that weird voice he only heard when he was in a lot of trouble was telling him everything was fine, no not fine, great, _fantastic_ because Leora was here, his _Star_ was here, she would watch over him, she would keep him safe keep him from being lonely because stars were always with the-

“Tsuna!”

Blinking out of the jumble mess that was his thought, Tsuna realized that only a few inches away from his face and checking his eyes

“Hieeee!” Jerking back, Tsuna pin wheeled his arms to try to keep his balance and failed horribly.  Leora latching onto his shirt was the only thing keeping him from falling head first onto the ground.

“Don’t DO that!” she snarled as she set him upright and started fussing again, “I’m pretty sure you have a concussion, you don’t need to hit your head on anything else.”

He had a concussion? That probably explained why he felt weird; light and floaty but still heavy… that didn’t make much sense. How can something be light and heavy at the same time?

“How often does that happen Tsuna?” he squinted at Leora. How often something was light and heavy at the same time? How would he know?

…Oh, she meant getting beat up.

“A lot.” He didn’t even think about lying to her like he did to Mama. The weird voice said Stars saw everything and she would get upset with him if she knew he was lying to her. He didn’t want to drive her away.

She still looked pretty upset, but it didn’t seem to be at him so it was fine.

She started pacing back and forth in front of him, pulling at her short hair and arguing with herself. She mentioned something about anime, and a plot, and cuntwagons - whatever that was - before switching to Italian…and then another language…then back to Italian She went back and forth between the two with a few off sounding phrases that didn’t match either language.

He’d have to ask her to teach him sometime. She seemed more comfortable with them than she was Japanese.

Gentle hands pulling his arm over small shoulders pulled him out of his musings. Being careful not to grab his bruised side Leora slowly pulled him to his feet.

“C’mon Tsuna. Let’s get you to a doctor and get you home.”

Tsuna didn’t like that idea. The voice didn’t either. If he went home Leora wouldn’t stay. She didn’t seem to like his house. His Star would leave and that was unacceptable.

“You’ll stay?” he asked, staring at her pleadingly and she seemed to be fighting with herself again. She seemed to have a lot going on in her head. After a few minutes of just staring at her, her shoulder’s slumped slightly.

“…I’ll stay.”

“And you won’t leave?”

“…” Leora didn’t look at him, just kept walking at the slow and steady pace he could keep up with.

“Leora?”

Giving him a sidelong glance, she heaved a sigh. It made her look at lot older. Tired. Tsuna didn’t like it.

“I’ll stay and play Guardian until you don’t need me anymore Tsuna. That’s all I’ll promise.”

Tsuna gave a happy sigh and leaned more heavily against his friend as his head swam and the world tilted – and she _was_ his friend. His first friend.

The voice gave off a happy purr before getting sucked back into icy feeling in his chest. Even without the voice that warm flicker in his chest stayed, and it was just a tiny bit warmer that before.

That promise meant she was never going to leave him the voice had assured.

The Sky always needed the Stars.

Whatever that meant.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

* * *

 

_I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father’s protection._

_-Sigmund Freud_

* * *

 

It was kind of terrifying how the universe kept proving how quickly everything could go to hell. Leora had only been in this world for a little over a week and already almost every resolve she’d made was essentially shot to pieces and chucked out a window. Maybe set on fire if she was sticking with the theme of the place.

She was going to actively protect one Sawada Tsunayoshi, until he could either protect himself or collect at least some of his guardians. If yesterday was any indication, she’d be waiting for the guardians. That meant waiting for Reborn to show up and getting involved in the early stages of the plot, or by some miracle getting Tsuna’s seal off and on the radar of Yamamoto Takeshi, Hibari Kyouya, and Sasagawa Ryohei.

Since it took getting shot almost daily with a Dying Will bullet for over a year to get it off in the anime that meant she was going to be waiting for Reborn.

Goddamn it, why did she have to have such strong morals about protecting kids?

She blamed the years of entertaining the little tykes.

So… Leora was going to get a cursed hitman pointing a chameleon/gun in her face and telling her, by association, congratulations she had joined the Mafia.

Wonderful.

It was getting harder and harder not to give into that hysterical part of her brain that wanted her to break down screaming, but that would bring a nurse running and she didn’t particularly want to be drugged up the eyeballs.

Shifting so she would be more comfortable on the hospital bed Tsuna was currently occupying, Leora got another glimpse of the bruise that bloomed from the small boys’ temple to over his left eye and went back to glaring at the wall.

She took it back, she blamed the sadistic little shits this town had masquerading as children for this.

Nana had actually been worried when Leora had finally gotten Tsuna home, and had wasted no time bundling them into a taxi and off to the hospital where this doctor who couldn’t have been younger than sixty checked him over.

Tsuna _did_ in fact have a concussion, along with bruised ribs, and a sprained ankle. The carney had been slightly mollified that the doctor had look about as murderous as she felt the longer he checked Tsuna over, but not by much. Nana had gone and made assumptions again, assuming that Tsuna had been clumsy and ‘taken a tumble’ instead of gotten the shit beat out of him. The doctor looked about as incredulous as Leora at the woman’s leap of logic, and wasted no time in pulling the carney out of the room to ask her what really happened.

Hallelujah, at least _someone_ in this world had common fucking sense.

She wasn’t able to tell him more than the bare facts before Tsuna noticed she wasn’t in the room with him anymore and freaked the fuck out.

It took nearly an hour for both her and the doctor to calm him down enough for him to accept the drugs that would help with the pain and put him to sleep, but he stayed firmly attached to the carney’s waist where he’d latched on the minute she was back in the room with him.

Even hours later, after Nana had gone home for the night and the drugs were effectively keeping him asleep, his fingers were still clamped into her shirt so he was half on her, tucked under her chin and with no way for her to escape.

She kept inhaling his hair, much to her annoyance.

The doctor wasn’t any help. As soon as Nana left and Tsuna got comfortable enough to go to sleep the asshole had started _laughing_ at her.

He was still laughing, settled into one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs the hospital provided for visitors off to the corner. Leora would be glaring at _him_ if she didn’t have to hold her head at a weird angle just to look at time.

“Stop laughing.”

“I’m not laughing, dear.”

“I can _hear_ you laughing.”

“I’m chuckling. There’s a difference.” he pointed out cheerfully, or as cheerfully as someone with a voice that sounded like they gargled rocks every day for twenty years could, “Besides, its adorable how he cuddles up to you.”

“I can’t feel my left arm.”

“I’m afraid the best you can do is shift around a bit. Nothing short of a miracle and a crowbar is going to get him to let go right now.”

Leora conceded the point, but it didn’t make her any less irritable. “I’ve been doing that. Still can’t feel my arm. Go fetch the crowbar.”

“You’ll be fine,” he drawled, amusement still layered on thick and Leora couldn’t resist growling, wiggling around some more in a futile attempt to get feeling back in her arm and put some space between her and Tsuna.

She wasn’t used to prolonged physical contact like this. Outside of acrobatics she never really had to touch anyone. A quick hug here and there happened, maybe a pat on the head or an arm slung over a shoulder, but those were brief. Back when she was an actual kid she would cuddle up to one of the other circus workers when she was sick or hurt but never for more than ten minutes, and it was usually only her head in their lap.

Tsuna had been using her as a teddy bear for nearly five hours.

Yes, he was hurt and obviously needed it; that didn’t make her any less uncomfortable.

What the hell was she supposed to do with her hands – hand, the left was still useless – when a hysterical and now unconscious kid decided to use you as a comfort object? She’d tried patting his back like she’d seen mothers do to sleeping children but that just felt awkward. Should she pet his head?

“Isn’t it bad for blood flow to be cut off? You _are_ a doctor, right?”

Please, please, please let him help her get Tsuna off. She’d much rather be sitting in one of the plastic chairs.

“I am technically on break.”

“Well, you’re fucking useless.”

“ _Language_ , young lady.”

Oh, she said that out loud. Whoops. Sorry not sorry.

Just done with it, Leora braced a foot against one of the bed guard things and used it to shove both her and Tsuna into a roll so she was now facing the side of the room with the doctor, with her laying on top of Tsuna now.

It took some wiggling to get her left arm out from underneath the boy – he was surprisingly heavy for how small he was – and into a position where she wasn’t crushing him.

Tsuna gave off a few disgruntled huffs with the movement, but easily shifted into a position where he was lying next to Leora instead of on her. He didn’t seem to care as long as he had a hold of her shirt.

Leora was still uncomfortable with the touching, but was slightly mollified by the fact that with this new position she could wiggle out of her shirt to escape if need be.

With the feeling almost fully returned to her arm – pins and needles _sucked_ but it was better than numb – Leora turned to stare suspiciously at the white elephant in the room, i.e. the apparently off the clock old man who’d been staring at them for almost an hour.

He didn’t give off the pedophile, or even a creeper vibe, but he’d still been staring intently enough that it made the hair on her arms stand on end. His eyes themselves were unremarkable; the skin of his lids drooped, creating bags under his eyes and an innumerable number of wrinkles in the corners to frame dark brown that most Japanese people seemed to have. He had to squint slightly, like the large square glasses perched on the end of his nose were the wrong prescription. Completely normal for a man his age.

The intensity at which he stared, gaze flickering between the carney and the boy attached to her front, was not.

Locking eyes with the old man Leora raised an eyebrow. “What do you want?”

He blinked a few times, startled at the bluntness, before settling a bit more comfortably into the hard plastic chair.

Leora vindictively hoped the chair was killer on his joints.

“I don’t want anything, dear.”

“Then why have you been staring at us for the past _hour?_ ”

Rolling a shoulder, he started absently rubbing at his hip much to her delight, his lined face shifting into a more sheepish expression.

“You remind me on someone I met a long time ago. I was going to check up on your friend and ended up lost in thought.”

Leora blinked.

“That excuse is flimsy as hell old man.”

He barked out a laugh, glasses sliding to the end of his nose which he fixed with the fourth finger of his left hand.

“Flimsy yes, but true. I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable. And I better get around to what I actually came here to do.”

Well that sounded ominous.

“Sawada Tsunayoshi has been to the hospital with similar, if less extreme, injuries. About five visits. You are the first one to claim his injuries were not due to clumsiness.”

Leora didn’t even try to hide the sardonic look she knew was on her face. “By the other people claiming it was clumsiness you mean Nana?”

The doctor smiled thinly. “Yes.”

“You _do_ realize her cord doesn’t quite reach the outlet, right?”

“I am aware. I treated her for a head injury about twenty years ago. She never quite recovered.”

Leora blinked.

That… explained _a lot_.

“And she’s being allowed to _raise a child_ on _her own_?”

The doctor made a face. “Her husband has proved useless when I have tried to get in contact with him, I have also attempted to get child services involved after the third incident, but they keep losing the paper work or do not see a problem. Just a child being clumsy.”

Leora felt her non-existent hackles raise at the mention of Iemitsu. He was the one most likely behind the lost paper work. The dumbass probably did believe his son was just clumsy. Why wouldn’t the cripple kid fall down all the time? “How retarded are these people?”

“From a medical standpoint? With how few brain cells the people I talk to seem to have I’m surprised they have a higher functioning power than plants.”

Leora snorted, shooting a small grin at the stoic-faced doctor over the top of Tsuna’s hair. The snort turned into quiet cackling when she realized that he was completely serious.

“I think I like you.” she bit out between snickers.

“I aim to please.” He drawled dryly, shuffling around in the seat some more to relieve some of the stress on his joints, “You will be looking out for him, yes?”

Leora immediately sobered up.

“I delivered Tsunayoshi-kun when he was a baby, and I have been the one to treat his injuries for every hospital visit he has had to date. Though I have tried, I cannot do more than patch up his injuries. You, on the other hand, are more than capable of keeping him safe.”

“What makes you say that?” Leora questioned, trying her best to ignore the ball of ice that lodged in her gut as another person tried to cement her staying in Namimori. The smirk the doctor shot her was slightly vindictive.

“A mother came in shortly before you so her son could have his broken nose reset. She was complaining rather loudly about the ‘foul-mouthed delinquent that attacked her son for no reason’.  I am assuming that was you.”

Leora cocked her head. “I come off as a delinquent?”

He shook his head. “No, but you are foul-mouthed on occasion as you proved just moments ago, and you still had blood on your hands when you brought Tsuna in. Since Tsuna was not bleeding I assume it came from when you broke the boys’ nose.”

“…A group of kids were kicking Tsuna while all the other kids were cheering them on. I wasn’t going to let them get away with that.” Leora admitted, shifting her gaze from the doctor to stare at the wall again.

“And swearing at the mother?”

“She completely ignored what her little hellion had done. Didn’t even look at Tsuna where he was still on the ground. She just stuck her finger in my face, screeched about how I can’t hit others for no reason, and what the consequences there would be for me.” Leora snorted, “Fucking hypocrite.”

“Though I am against the language you use, I approve your actions and opinions wholeheartedly.” Leora heard him shifting around in his chair a bit more, “So you will watch out for Tsunayoshi-kun?

“I…promised him…that I would stick around until he didn’t need me anymore.” She said eventually, the words sending another jolt of resignation and panicked hysteria through her small frame. As if sensing her stiffen, Tsuna gave off another huff, shuffling closer so that he was once again tucked under her chin with an arm wrapped around her waist. Spitting out another mouthful of hair, Leora scowled when she realized her potential escape route was no longer an option, but didn’t bother trying to wiggle away. Tsuna would just tighten his grip.

So that left her once again being used as a teddy bear with her arms held awkwardly away from the boy hugging her.

The doctor was quietly laughing again, the _ass_.

“Isn’t it frowned upon to have visitors stay overnight?” She questioned a bit desperately.

“Usually, but I had the staff make an exception since he was obviously more comfortable clinging to you. You must be very good friends.”

“I’ve known him for a _week_.”

“He is still more comfortable with you.” The doctor repeated firmly. “So you stay.”

That _really_ sounded ominous. And final.

The hysteria was doing its best to beat out the resignation at the implications, and Tsuna wasn’t helping by clinging to her even tighter.

“He will need to stay in the hospital for a few more days for observation, but after that he will be free to go.” Doctor whatever-his-name-is informed her as he stiffly climbed to his feet. “Tomorrow will be my last day before retiring. I will leave my information with you in case you will need to get a hold of me should he get injured again. I would prefer to stay his primary physician if at all possible. I would also like to know how Tsunayoshi-kun is from time to time, so please convince him to visit when you can.”

“Why’re you putting _me_ in charge of all this?” Leora demanded, as he was about to walk out the door. He paused, the light from the hallway glinting off his glasses and hiding his eyes before he pushed them farther up his nose again. The carney sincerely wished he hadn’t because without the glare she could clearly see that the intense look was back in his eyes.

“You are much more mature than your age suggests Idoni-san, and Tsuna clearly needs someone to protect him. He _needs you_.”

“I can guarantee that he doesn’t.” Leora shot back, all but baring her teeth at the older man who was making her _very_ uncomfortable.

“And I can guarantee that he does. More than you know.”

Giving her a final nod, the old man bid her a quiet goodnight before walking into the hallway and closing the door gently behind him, leaving Leora in the dark with Tsuna cuddled up to her side for some kind of comfort she really didn’t see herself providing.

She fell into a troubled sleep a few hours later, dreaming of a burning tent, screaming, and white fire.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

* * *

 

_Life is a circus ring, with some moments more spectacular than others._

_Janusz Korczak_

* * *

 

It turns out that the old man really was a doctor, and slotted for retirement that he had apparently been putting off for a few years like he’d claimed, at least according to the nurse that came to check up on Tsuna.

Tsuna himself had confirmed that the man, Saito Hideo, had been his doctor as long as he could remember… a few hours after the nurse and once he was conscious anyway.

The brat had nearly given himself another concussion when he woke up and realized that he was hugging a rather irate looking carney, and launched himself from the bed head first with another one of his signature shrieks.

Saito-sensei had been less than impressed.

Leora hadn’t been that thrilled with his actions either, but that was mostly drowned out by the relief of no longer being hugged and the ability to get up and move. Never before had she been so happy to go to the bathroom.

Tsuna wasn’t anywhere near as clingy as he was the day before, but he still got really uncomfortable and fidgety when Leora got farther than six feet away from him, even if he didn’t seem to realize it. He looked just short of having a seizure when she had gone out of his line of sight on her trip to the bathroom.

Seeing as Tsuna might have an _actual_ seizure if she left the building, going back to her apartment wasn’t an option until he calmed down a bit.

So to pass the time she was seated cross legged on a hospital bed across from Tsuna trying to improve his skills at counting cards with another game of poker. The only dessert the hospital seemed to have for patients was jello cups – not even the green kind but the disgusting cherry stuff that tasted like cough syrup – but they were stingy enough that they wouldn’t give the two kids enough to play with and Leora didn’t really have enough motivation to try to raid their supplies.

Instead they settled for emptying out a box of gloves that were kept stacked by the door.

Expertly shuffling the deck one of the nurses had been kind enough to provide them from the gift shop, she doled out the cards.

“Alright, remember what I told you?”

Staring intently at his cards, Tsuna nodded his head, eyes scrunched up in concentration. “There are fifty-two cards in a deck with four suites: spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs. Each suite had 13 cards,” He repeated dutifully.

“Right,” she praised, sending him an approving look as they both threw in their bet and revealed their cards. “Now, how many kings are left in the deck?”

Tsuna stared hard at the cards she’d spread out in front of her, then at his own cards as he mentally tried to do the math.

“…two?”

“Good,” Leora nodded approvingly, “Now how many threes?”

“Four.” He answered with a bit more confidence than before, straightening up a bit when he got it right. He sank in on himself like a deflated balloon when he got the next count wrong. Leora’s entirely mature response was to toss a handful of gloves at him.

“Don’t get so depressed, this takes time and you just need more practice,” Doling out the next hand she missed Tsuna’s bewildered looked at the reassurance. “Seeing how you have an unknown number of days to be imprisoned here you’ll be getting plenty, unless you have a better idea of how to pass the time?”

Tsuna shook his head.

“Then lots of poker we shall play. I’ll raise you four gloves.”

“I believe gambling is illegal.” A gravelly voice piped up from the doorway that Leora completely ignored, but caused Tsuna to flinch guiltily as Saito-sensei strolled up to the bed to get a better look at the cards.

“It’s only illegal if you use money.” Cutting her eyes towards the doctor that still made her feel slightly on edge, the carney gave him a bland smile, “I was unaware synthetic gloves were now a currency.”

Saito-sensei huffed out a laugh. “Cheeky brat.”

“Damn straight.”

“ _Language_ young lady.” Turning his attention back to Tsuna he gave him a brief once over, noting the clear eyes, lucidity, and the healing black eye that Leora had already catalogued this morning. He was still holding himself a bit awkwardly due to the bruised ribs, but they didn’t seem to be bothering him as badly as they did the day before. Leora would’ve called bullshit on that if she didn’t know anime healing factors were weird, and that Tsuna as he is now couldn’t tell a believable lie if his life depended on it.

Another thing she was going to have to work with him on apparently. The Art of Bullshitting and Getting Away with It had helped her a lot over the years in fortune-telling and with general confrontations. It would most definitely help a mafia boss in the long run. Basic acting too since that tended to go hand-in-hand with the afore mentioned lesson. Poker could help him keep a straight face and bluff, but it could only do so much.

He was young enough that she could make the lesson into a game to make things easier on the both of them rather than sitting him down and lecturing. _Amma_ Eva had done something similar when she was young and Leora had always enjoyed those lessons. At the very least it would be something else to do in the hospital when they inevitably got tired of poker.

It would be slightly more productive than planning revenge on the assholes who put her in the position where she _had_ to protect him now, anyway.

Yeah those brats weren’t getting off that easily. It didn’t happen very often – Leora could and would become a vindictive bitch if the situation called for it – but now she was an _angry_ vindictive bitch, and what happened to Tsuna she wouldn’t let slide.

Leora didn’t get angry very often. Irritated and annoyed were a given, but she never really got _angry_ because, for the most part, she just didn’t care. She’d always been a bit indifferent and detached to her surroundings, even when she was an actual child, and it had creeped out many a people before she found her way to the circus. It didn’t help that the circus had a pretty much communally accepted policy of ‘Not my Circus, Not My Monkeys’ when it came to the rest of the world. In a way it was like hanging from a lyra; you see everything going on around you, you recognize it, you acknowledge it, but are never _really_ a part of it. The world is just below your dangling feet and the most you do it observe it. What’s going on down below doesn’t affect you, so why bother getting too upset over it? The only people that mattered were the ones at the other end of the cable holding you up, and those were the ones she got emotionally invested in.

After yesterday Tsuna had managed to get firmly placed at the end of her cable. He needed her, and to be perfectly, grudgingly honest, she needed him too. At least for now.

She was loath to admit it, but ending up in this place had caused her cable to fray. Only a single thread was keeping her from falling to a messy demise, and she was desperately trying to hold it together until she managed to make a new cable and hypothetically bolt it to the rigging so she wouldn’t _need_ anyone on the other end.

So, a bloody and painful revenge was going to happen no matter how long she had to wait the fact that the source of her ire were kids be damned, but planning it at a hospital in front of an extremely skittish child wasn’t a good idea. Leora the Angry Vindictive Bitch had a scary scheming face.

The scratching of a pen brought the carney out of her musings, focus back on Saito-sensei as he scribbled something on a clipboard looking satisfied with whatever he was writing.

“If you are still feeling decently enough you will be able to return home tomorrow Tsunayoshi-kun. But you will need to be mindful of your ribs and take care not to get injured again. I would prefer it if you would stay home for at least another week so you have adequate time to heal.”

Oh, thank god. Guarantee she would be able to leave soon. She didn’t think she would be this happy for a chance to go back to her crappy apartment and block out the rest of the world, but the allure of the place was almost heavenly compared to the cramped private hospital room. AND she wouldn’t have to worry about Tsuna getting more injured while he was basically under house arrest.

That left her with a week to get her hands on the alcohol her landlady required, but more importantly, she had a week to get shit faced drunk and _stay_ drunk in an attempt to accept the fact that she was willing turning into Tsuna’s babysitter for the next unknown number of years.

At least with how small she was now she wouldn’t have to stock up on much.

* * *

 

It was with almost palpable relief that she parted ways with Tsuna the next day. Tsuna obviously wasn’t happy about it if the near death grip he had on his mother’s skirt was anything to go by, but he wasn’t losing his mind over it so he could just suck it up and deal with it for a few days.

She wasn’t going to get the whole week to herself like she planned – Nana had been insistent on her coming over sometime this week and Tsuna had latched onto that with all the tenacity of a bulldog until she agreed, which had honestly surprised the carney – but four days to herself was more than enough time for what she had planned.

So it was with a spring in her step that she parted ways with the Sawada family, firmly _not_ looking back at the anime style cloud of depression that had actually formed over Tsuna’s head.

She didn’t need more reminders on her new place of existence.

What she _did_ need was another group of teenagers trying to get drunk in some side alley so she could filch their liquor and run like hell; she couldn’t exactly waltz into a store to buy what she needed. She could probably find what she needed in the warehouse district, but she was leery of running into the yakuza again so soon after getting chased all over the damn town. With how her luck was going she would run face first into the guy she kicked in the crotch.

Back alley scavenger hunting it was then.

A quick glance around the street showed no one looking her way, so Leora wasted no time in ducking into the nearest alley and scaling the nearest drainpipe, wincing slightly at how less coordinated and graceful it was compared to her adult body.

Pushing back the little wisps of hysteria that always blurred the edges of her thoughts at the notable physical differences between this body and her older one, the carney set out across the rooftops as quietly as she could so as not to draw attention to herself.

She didn’t have much luck. Finding any liquor that is. The few people that were in the alleys she checked didn’t even notice she was there and weren’t really worth her time. A handful of people taking out garbage, another yakuza shake down – one she was sorely tempted to interrupt by dropping some of the loose heavy weight shingles on their heads in a form of petty revenge – and a group of teenagers like she was looking for, but they had already drained their poisons of choice if the empty bottles were anything to go by and were more interested in smoking.

Perched on another light post that was located on a side street with little to no traffic, Leora tugged her hands through her short cap of curls and repressed the desire to curse. Loudly.

Instead she sighed, slumping down as much as she could without losing her balance and propped her head up on a fist.

She knew that scavenging didn’t automatically mean you’d find something you were looking for. It was statistically impossible. But she was still mentally eighteen, and it exacerbated her that she couldn’t just buy it like she usually did and instead had to settle for skulking around on roof tops for a chance to swoop in a and steal like some kind of overgrown seagull snatching chips.

The fact that she was even comparing the actions she needed to stay alive in this place to a feathered rat with wings was depressing.

Glancing at her watch, she debated whether she should just call it a day or spend a few more hours looking around and hope she got lucky.

Then promptly ducked as something whizzed by a few inches from her head. Losing her balance, the carney hooked her legs over the light, hands coming up to grab the metal she was hanging from as a precaution in case she had to yank herself out of the way of another projectile.

Position secure, Leora gaze snapped down – or was it up when you were hanging upside down? – at the scowling face of Hibari Kyouya. Sans one tonfa.

Leora said the first thing that came to mind.

“You shouldn’t throw your weapons unless you have a way to pull them back to you immediately after the fact. It’ll leave you at a disadvantage and potentially give your enemy a weapon.”

Almost immediately after the words left her mouth Leora wanted to bang her head against the post. She had spent _way_ too much time around _Afi_ Viktor and _Sifu_ Yaozu if that was the only reaction she had to being attacked, and lecturing the Cloud wasn’t going to get her any brownie points.

Not to mention she was trying to not make herself a point of interest for the Skylark. Just because she was going to watch out for Tsuna now didn’t mean she was immediately going to start going out of her way to interact with every character she came across.

Kyouya blinked, eyes widening slightly before falling back into a scowl.

“Fight me, herbivore.” He demanded.

“It hasn’t been a week yet.” The carney pointed out blandly, watching dispassionately as the kid’s glare intensified and… was he sulking?

Leora had to keep her lips from curling in amusement because yes, yes he was.

The Demon of Namimori was sulking like a child who’d been told they couldn’t have dessert until he finished his dinner.

In his defense he _was_ a child and probably hadn’t earned that title yet, but Hibari Kyouya and sulking were two things she’d never thought would go together in the same sentence. Never mind the fact she shouldn’t have to be in a situation where she had to in the first place.

Tilting her head so she could see him from a better angle, Leora had to admit that he was kind of adorable at this age. He didn’t have anything on Tsuna’s baby rabbit look, but he was still cute. Like a baby kitten that was soaked and glaring murder at everything but people still cooed at it.

Maybe a baby tiger would be a better analogy, the carney mentally corrected. Adorable he may be, but he was still capable of dealing some damage. The Yakuza that he beat the shit out of a few days ago were proof enough of that, and he’d only keep improving the more he ‘hunted’.

That train of thought sparked an idea, one Leora turned over in her head a few times before grinning down at the Skylark with what was probably a few to many teeth.

“Hibari-san,” Leora all but purred, “How would you like to make a deal?”

He narrowed his eyes, but she could easily see the interest. “What kind of deal?”

“You know the group of kids that go to the park early in the morning?” the Cloud showed obvious distaste at the thought, but nodded his head. “They got it in their heads that they were pretty high up on the food chain and collectively beat the shit out of my friend, giving him a concussion and bruised ribs bad enough to warrant a stay at the hospital.”

Kyouya was looking well and truly pissed now, though whether it was from the audacity that crowding herbivores thought they were better than they were or the injuries they inflicted on Tsuna the carney couldn’t tell.

“I broke one of their noses to get him away, but disciplining them isn’t my place since I’m not from around here.” Her grin widened another notch. “If you put them in their place, I’ll fight with you as often as you want for an entire week after I finish moving in. Do we have a deal?”

Leora didn’t want to. She _really_ didn’t want to. Her reflexes were horribly off at this size, she had little to no muscle that would be useful in an actual fight, and she knew she was going to overreach her punches every single fucking time. She was just asking to get the shit beat out of her, but this was a guaranteed way to completely get used to her smaller body and start back up to snuff.

The fact that Kyouya could actually get away with beating the little monsters within an inch of their lives was a very nice bonus.

If the blood thirsty grin he was giving her was anything to go by, he liked the idea too.

“Two days, herbivore. Meet me at the park.” With that he turned and stalked off, somehow doing a rather impressive impression of a cat.

Leora didn’t bother hiding the wince as Kyouya turned a corner. Now she only had one more day to get her landlady’s liquor, and she would most likely show up at Tsuna’s the day after black and blue. Possible with broken bones. Not that Nana would notice, but she was pretty sure Tsuna would lose his mind.

Sliding down the light post, Leora dusted herself off slightly before jogging into the next alley so she could climb the drainpipe and get on the roof. Going home wasn’t really an option anymore, and she’d honestly have a better chance of finding something once it was dark.

Pausing long enough to scoop something up and stick it in the waistband of her pants, Leora idly wondered if Kyouya wanted his discarded tonfa back.

Probably.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

* * *

 

_Flexibility is a requirement of survival._

_-Roger Von Oech_

* * *

 

Her ceiling had cracks in it.

Nothing bad enough that Leora had to worry about the ceiling coming down on her head, thankfully, but still a lot. They started in the far left corner her room, hair thin crack snaking out through the plaster in a poor imitation of a spider’s web.

Sometime around three a.m. she started counting them when she couldn’t go back to sleep. Only twenty-two were obviously visible in gloom of her apartment, but she was pretty sure that the other thirty-nine she had noted so far were definitely up there. You had to squint, but they were there.

She’d have to count again once the lights were turned on. Maybe in a few hours if she remembered.

Leora debated shifting to a more comfortable spot, but almost immediately decided against it. That would require moving, which would require energy, energy she really couldn’t drum up right now.

She was just so _tired_.

The roof hopping hadn’t been that tiring at the time – she wasn’t even that sore from the exercise – but it must’ve taken more out of her than she thought. Each limb felt like it was weighed down with lead, each finger and toe stiff and slow to respond. Her head might as well have been replaced with a bowling ball as far as she was concerned. Blinking was a physically taxing chore that she only dredged up the effort to do when her eyes started burning.

But despite how bone achingly _exhausted_ she was sleep wasn’t forthcoming, and absently counting the cracks in the ceiling was at least marginally better than staring at the inside of her eye lids.

Leora hadn’t gotten more than a few hours of sleep after she’d returned from stalking alley rooftops before a nightmare woke her up. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d be running on little to no sleep, but she wished she’d could be a little more rested before her beating – sparring session, she was supposed to call it a sparring session – with Kyouya tomorrow. Today. It was technically today. And since she apparently wasn’t the only one bad at stating a time to meet she was once again going to be at the park just a little before sunrise.

The anime had showed the Skylark napping all the time, but with how eager he seemed to fight her he’d probably be there around that time too. At least she hoped so. Leora wanted this over with as soon as possible so she could give the bitch downstairs her illegally gotten booze, then drink her own stash so she could get a solid five hours of guaranteed dreamless sleep.

Seriously, why was she so tired? She didn’t even _do_ that much over the past two days.

…Oh. Food. She’d kind of forgot she needed that.

She’d had coffee, some jello, and a small bowl of some kind of vegetable that had come with Tsuna’s breakfast at the hospital, but that didn’t really make up for the fact that she hadn’t eaten anything really substantial while doing a shit ton of exercising.

She didn’t think she had any food in the apartment except for those few apples she’d squirreled away, either.

Goddamnit, she knew she forgot something while she was out shopping.

Heaving herself out of her futon, the carney crawled across the floor to her poor excuse for a kitchen, then stared tiredly up at the counter from her prone position on the floor, wondering if it was truly worth it. It’s not like she was starving – she _had_ eaten – she just hadn’t eaten much. And she hadn’t done _that_ much exercising compared to what she normally did. She’d been stuck in a bed for a good chunk of that time too when Tsuna was being grabby.

But she was fighting Kyouya today so she needed as much energy as she could get. Which meant food. And caffeine. Lots of caffeine. But mostly food. Which meant she had to reach the counter. She glared at the sorry excuse for a kitchen.

Stupid counters, being out of reach. Stupid child’s body that couldn’t do jack and didn’t get hungry. Stupid, battle happy, juggernaut of a kid who wanted to fight. Stupid anime world she wanted nothing to do with.

Heaving herself into a vertical position, Leora managed to get the kettle filled and on the stove, the entire container of instant coffee dumped inside and left to boil. Whatever sludge that produced would at least keep her from falling on her face two steps out the door. Snatching up the apples the carney gratefully slid back to the floor, slowly munching her way through the slightly overripe fruit.

They didn’t really taste like anything.

* * *

 

Leora was never going to doubt the wonders caffeine again.

True the stuff she had tasted more like poisoned mud than anything else, but it was caffeinated mud and it kicked in well enough once she managed to drag her sorry ass out of her apartment and down a block.

She even felt vaguely human by the time she got to the park, wonder of wonders.

Yes she would need to get food today, but she tentatively decided that the tiredness must’ve been more from caffeine withdrawals than lack of food. Circus knows if she wasn’t drinking coffee she was drinking some kind of strong tea before she ended up in this clusterfuck. Usually only if they were out of coffee.

Apart from the language, drinking coffee was really the only culturally obvious thing that she’d held onto with how much she traveled away from her home country. Not that she was particularly sad about it, she mused. There hadn’t been anything left behind for her to feel sad about.

She’d have to get actual coffee on her run to the supermarket today, not that instant shit. She doubted that they’d have any of the good kind, but it would be better than nothing.

Walking into the picnic area, Leora did a quick glance around the park. There wasn’t a soul in sight, but that wasn’t really that surprising. The sun wasn’t even up yet, and it was too close to dawn for any of the gangs to be near some place so public.

Heading over to what Leora now considered ‘her’ tree, she dumped a water bottle and Kyouya’s tonfa by the roots.

Surveying her surroundings one more time the carney decided against her usual morning routine. Being half dead by the time Kyouya got there would just end up being very painful for her.

Stretching was a better, much safer option. She hadn’t figured out exactly how far her newfound increased flexibility would go anyway. Better sooner rather than later.

Starting off simple Leora bent forward, folding in half so her head met her shins while her hands clasped her ankles. From there it was child’s play to slide into a split and press her torso flat against her extended leg.

Front splits became side splits, then splits done while she balanced on her hands, seeing just how far she could go. It was nice to realize that she could easily touch each foot to the ground no matter which way she went when before such a thing was just out of her reach. The muscles didn’t even burn like they usually would.

From there it was her doing her best impression of a contortionist.

She was bent backwards almost completely in half – her upper body resting comfortably on the ground between her legs as she kneeled – when she noticed Kyouya standing a couple meters away.

He was staring at her with wide eyes. If he had any less discipline his mouth would be hanging open.

It was a toss-up whether his expression was from shock, fascination, or horror. Even this young he had a pretty good poker face.

It was probably a mix of all three if Leora was being honest with herself. Those were the usual reactions when people watched the performances at the _de Lumière._

Unable to think of anything better to do, Leora waved.

* * *

 

Kyouya snapped out of whatever kind of daze he’d been in easily enough once she started unfolding herself. His lone tonfa was out and raised expectantly by the time she was fully upright again.

Leora raised an eyebrow, but fell into an easy, if resigned stance, feet slightly apart and body relaxed.

“Do you want your other weapon back?” she asked, indicating with her head in the general direction of her tree.

Then promptly fell into another split to avoid getting brained by the angry – and possibly embarrassed – Cloud.

Leora was taking that as a no.

He’d overextended his reach when he missed her head. Taking advantage of that and her own position, Leora swept her legs out from under him, using the momentum to get back on her feet and put some space between them.

He didn’t stay down long.

Flipping away from a strike aimed at her ribs, Leora had to give the kid credit where credit was due. He was _really_ good for his age. He knew what he was doing, where he wanted to hit, and he wasn’t slow about it.

He wouldn’t hold up to an adult who knew what they were doing in a fight, but he was still impressive for his age.

He also hit like a fucking _sledgehammer_.

She’d taken a direct hit to her hip not long after they started, and that was more than enough incentive for Leora to give up working on offense and strictly focus on defense and evasiveness.

It wasn’t _fair_ that someone who didn’t look older than ten could hit that hard. Jesus Christ, this kid was going to be able to destroy _concrete_ by the time he was twelve if he kept up whatever training he was doing.

Maybe he was unconsciously propagating the force behind his hits? He was a Cloud even if he wasn’t active yet. It was something to think about.

Another hit to the shoulder and Leora didn’t have much time to think at all.

He’d go for her head, she’d fall back into a flips.

He’d strike out with his tonfa toward her torso, she’d either dance out of the way, dodge, or as she got more comfortable with the pace of the fight, use his extended arm to throw him and sneak in a couple of hits of her own.

Mostly she just jumped around and evaded like a demented monkey.

The Skylark wasn’t too happy with it either.

Well too bad for him. She was _tiny_. Even more so now. She was never going to be a heavy hitter, and relied most heavily on acrobatics, then taekwondo, wing chun, tai chi, kung fu, and YiQuan. Most of which involved a lot of jumping, kicks, and just general movements that block or misdirected attacks slightly and then went for vulnerable parts like the throat and face. If she had weapons they were usually small and something she could throw.

Honestly, even if the weapon was bigger she was more likely to try and throw it than she was to keep it. She moved around too much to be weighed down my something heavy.

Basically she was a fucking ninja. She just could never actually call herself that before because _Sifu_ Yaozu got all huffy because he hated the Japanese, and _Afi_ Viktor refused any term other than _skjaldmær_. Then Fin would always point out she didn’t kill people for money.

Old bastards the lot of them.

A blow to the sternum knocked her to the ground, wheezing for air as she tried to get her lungs to work properly. She looked up, blinked, then rolled to the side to avoid the tonfa coming down where her stomach was just moments before.

Kicking out his legs left the Cloud flailing slightly, off balance enough so that when he fell backward, almost on top of her, he didn’t immediately try to get up.

Leora took ruthless advantage of that. Hooking a leg over his torso to hold him down, she pinned the arm holding the tonfa straight over her chest, the other arm going around his neck in a choke hold.

Kyouya started thrashing when he realized he was trapped, but Leora didn’t let up. Giving him an inch would give him enough room to leverage himself out of her hold. She wanted this over with.

The carney tightened the arm she had around his neck.

“I _will_ keep this up until you’re unconscious.” She promised, yanking the arm that held the tonfa farther down so it was bending at an angle that would start to hurt.

Kyouya growled, struggling a bit harder to get free.

Leora just cut off the air and blood supply to his head a little more.

Just when he was seconds away from blacking out, Kyouya bit out a very grudgingly given “I yield.”

Leora obligingly released him so he could roll away, but stayed on the ground herself, breathing heavily.

Holy shit she won.

She felt like she’d been worked over with a baseball bat and had dumb luck mostly to thank for it, but she actually won!

Against a kid, the cynical part of her mind pointed out.

True he was going to be a monster that could self-combust when he was older, but right now he was still just a kid. Who quite frankly kicked her ass.

For fucks sake, she was pathetic.

Tentatively hauling herself into a sitting position that didn’t hurt too badly, Leora leveled a flat look at the kid in question who was trying to incinerate her with the power of his glare.

“You’re a monster.” She said bluntly before climbing to her feet. The glare lightened slightly – mollified a bit by the admission he was strong – but not enough to stop glowering.

“You didn’t actually fight. You just dodged.”

“I’m _tiny_. I can’t go for a straight forward attack unless I wanna _die_ or get seriously hurt. And you hit like a fucking _sledgehammer_. I’m not holding still for that.”

Kyouya’s glare turned _sullen_ of all things.

“Not everyone is going be as slow as the normal idiots you pick fights with.” Leora pointed out blandly before picking up her water bottle and downing half of it. “I’m sparring with you for the rest of the week, so work on getting faster.”

“Hn.”

Snorting into her water, Leora glanced around the park. She wasn’t sure how long they were sparring, but it was fully daylight now and a lot of kids were at the park. Most of them staring at them with naked horror.

She recognized a few of the faces.

Since he didn’t have a water bottle of his own, Leora offered Kyouya the other half of hers. He didn’t accept it, but she didn’t really expect him to.

Taking another drink, she motioned toward the kids half hiding behind playground equipment and gaping.

“Do you remember your half of the deal?” she asked idly. The Skylark gave her a sour look, but nodded.

“The worst offenders were the kid with glasses by the slide, brat with the red shirt near the swings, and the green shirt behind the tree.” She gestured with her water bottle in their general direction. “No idea where the last one is, but I broke his nose so he’s kind of hard to miss. Most of the rest of them just stood by and laughed.”

Finishing off her water bottle, she tossed it in the nearest trash can. Jogging back to her tree she grabbed the lone tonfa and tossed it back to its owner, who was looking happier. Well, not happy per say, but definitely more attentive. His smirk didn’t mean anything good for the brats.

“Have fun disciplining the masses. I’ll see you tomorrow.” With another wave in his general direction, Leora left without looking back.

She needed to get food before she forgot again, then soak in the coldest water her tub could produce to try to negate the damage the Cloud had just done to her. Since cold water was something her bathroom had an abundance of, she probably wouldn’t even need to buy ice.

Hopefully the bruising wouldn’t be too noticeable. Tsuna would have a heart attack. She had just gotten him out of the hospital, and she didn’t want to drag the brunet to Saito-sensei so soon after. The man gave her the creeps.

When the screaming started Leora didn’t even break her half limping stride, though the corners of her mouth did twitch slightly.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

* * *

 

_Stop getting attached to people so fast, because attachments lead to expectations and expectations leads to disappointment._

* * *

 

Staring up at the overlapping branches of her tree, Leora decided that this is what it felt like to be hit by a truck. Her hip was throbbing with a sharp, stabbing pain from the injuries she had just gotten today because the baby Cloud she was fighting was a dick and went after the injuries he had inflicted the day before. Actually, her entire body was throbbing. The hip was just more noticeable. So was her back, now that she wasn’t purposely ignoring her injuries. The muscles burned and ached from supporting her weight while evading, and from the grazing hits Kyouya had managed to get in.

Frankly, she felt like shit.

It was an oddly comforting sensation. Nostalgic.

Circus wasn’t easy. You would end up injured one way or another; bruises from the steel, blisters and skinned hands that would turn bloody because they were ignored, strained muscles and the occasional broken bones. Circus _hurt_.

It was kind of the first rule of circus, that it was going to hurt. It never stopped hurting.

It was a small price to pay to be able to fly.

But Leora wasn’t going to be flying anytime soon, so the pain wasn’t appreciated. A bit nostalgic, yes, but not appreciated. No matter what Fin said, acrobats weren’t masochists, and Leora didn’t like being in pain without a good reason.

The satisfaction of revenge only took her so far, and she was looking forward to the end of her daily beat- _sparring_ sessions.

Nearly inaudible grumbling had Leora turning away from the branches to focus on Kyouya, who was sporting a rather magnificent black eye. He really should have known better than to only pin one of her arms, especially when it forced her back to face him and lined her elbow up with his face.

She might have lost this match, but she wouldn’t go quietly.

Climbing painfully to her feet, Leora limped to the two water bottles she had brought with her today, and tossed one to Kyouya, who caught it with a questioning glare. Leora sent a silent thanks to her brain for translating Glares, capital letter fully intended. Kyouya’s weren’t that different from _Afi_ Viktor’s, and the old Icelandic’s varying glares were a language all their own.

“We just spent thirty minutes trying to kill each other. If I’m thirsty then you must be too.”

Kyouya’s glare was unimpressed. “I don’t need anything from you.”

“I didn’t say you needed it.” Leora pointed out from around the lip of her water bottle. “I just figured you’d like one you didn’t have to share.”

“I don’t want it.”

“Then give it back.” Leora countered easily enough. She only had a limited access to water bottles right now and would gladly take his. It was only years of acting as water-girl during practice that had her bringing the extra bottle anyway.

The idea of giving _anything_ up – never mind that it was something as insignificant as a cheap water bottle – seemed to raise the Cloud’s non-existent hackles. Putting his tonfas away, wherever he stored them on his person, he purposely broke the seal of the lid and sipped. The look he sent her practically _dared_ her to try and take it away.

Leora had to hide her amused snort with a cough.

Territorial people could be surprisingly petty, and it was hilarious to watch them get worked up over the little things, at least when it didn’t directly affect you.

“So, are you going to get around to introducing yourself?” she asked instead, chugging the rest of her water.

“Hn.”

“Nice to meet you, Hn-san. I’m Idoni Leora.” Tossing the bottle in the nearest recycling bin, Leora ignored Kyouya’s mildly annoyed look and gave him a half assed salute. “Well, I’m off to ice my everything because frankly, you hit like a sledgehammer. I recommend icing your eye. See yah tomorrow.”

Turning on a heel, Leora proceeded to limp out of the park, not even bothering to look back at the skylark.

She had roughly four hours before she was supposed to be at Tsuna’s house. She fully intended to spend that time soaking in cold water.

* * *

 

Standing outside the gate of the Sawada residence, Leora’s eyes latched as if it would come to life, like something out of _a Christmas Carol_ and bite her. To be honest, she kind of hoped it would. That would prove that this place was the gateway to hell and she would have a legitimate reason to run away screaming at the top of her lungs and never look back.

She was tempted to do it anyway.

It wasn’t too late to change her mind, she reasoned as she continued to stare at the gate. She could watch out for Tsuna from a distance. She didn’t have to interact with him. She wouldn’t have to go into his house. She wouldn’t be exposed to the crazy baby Mafia recruiter.

She liked that plan.

Turning sharply, she made it two steps away from the gate before it was thrown open with a bang. Flinching, Leora turned and just managed to brace herself before she was bowled over by something fluffy and brown as it tripped in its haste to get to the street.

Tsuna landed half sprawled across her, face slamming into her sternum while the hands he was trying to use to catch himself were digging into her badly bruised hip.

“Owwww,” was mumbled into her shirt, slightly dazed and muffled. Leora couldn’t hold back the whole body twitch as the boy shifted, pressing more into her injuries.

“Tsunayoshi.” she wheezed after a moment of forcing her lungs to work properly again.

“Y-Yes?”

“ _Get off of me._ ”

“Hieeeee, I’m so sorry!!!”

* * *

 

Escape plan foiled, an unwilling Leora was ushered into the house by a smiling Nana and shown to a chair at the kitchen table where she was promptly given an insane quantity of food that she didn’t do more than nibble on. The tea she was given was slightly more appreciated. Tuning out Nana’s chattering about how cute Leora was, the carney turned her attention to scrutinize the little brunet across from her now that he wasn’t causing her excruciating pain.

Tsuna’s black eye was considerably better than last time, more green and blue than the dark purple as she remembered, and the swelling had gone down almost completely. He did winced every time Nana let a plate or utensil clatter against the table or counter, and when the kitchen light reflected off the kettle his mother used to refill the hot water. Considering he was always clumsy, she wouldn’t be able to tell if it was from the after effect of the concussion or not, but the slightly dazed look in his eyes when he glanced at her indicated that he was probably worse than normal.

He wasn’t going to be fully functional for a while, a few weeks at least, a few months a worst. Playing poker at the hospital had been a good distraction, but probably hadn’t been a good idea for his recovery. Thinking too hard after a head injury tended to make things worse.

Frankly, all he should be doing right now was taking naps in a dark room, and lazing around until he felt better.

Seeing as she was practically in the same boat as the brunet, she was more than willing to oblige. She loathed to admit it, but his house felt a lot nicer than her apartment. Comforting. It made the paranoia in her sit up and pay attention because there was an undercurrent of wrong with the comfort, but her body didn’t seem to care. She was exhausted, her body relaxing at the feeling of _safety, warmth, home_ that made her eyelids drop.

With a resigned sigh, Leora went back to picking at her food.

Might as well enjoy it. The air conditioning was really nice.

* * *

 

When it was finally deemed acceptable, Nana released them from her tender mercies and waved them in the direction of the stairs with orders to go play.

Closing the door, Tsuna didn’t get farther than pointing towards the pile of games he had in the corner of his room before Leora was pointing at the bed.

“Get in bed.” she ordered sternly, watching impassively as the younger boy fumbled with the games, blinking in confusion as it took a moment to properly register the words.

“H-Huh?”

“Your head hurts and you’re tired.” Leora explained slowly, careful to keep her voice at a reasonable level, “So get in bed. Take a nap.”

“B-But-” Tsuna tried to argue, but the carney cut him off with a look.

“You’re still recovering, Tsuna. You’re supposed to be sleeping.”

To Leora’s surprise, Tsuna’s eyebrows furrowed and his face set into a stubborn scowl that would have been easily mistaken for a pout if not for the bruises across half his face.

“B-But you just g-got here.”

Leora raised an eyebrow at the petulant tone, but allowed her mouth to twitch into something just shy of a smile.

“I’m tired too, Tsuna. I can nap here just as well as I can at my place.” Gesturing towards his bed again, Leora gave him an expectant look. When he still hesitated, Leora rolled her eyes before bodily maneuvering him towards the bed.

Tsuna squawked like a strangled chicken as he was hoisted up and dumped onto the mattress, much to the carney’s amusement. He tried to argue with her – insisting that they should at least get out futons, but Leora wasn’t going to give up the chance to sleep in an actual bed – but that was solved easily enough by smooshing his face into his pillow and covering him with a blanket. He subsided with a pout, but snuggled into his pillow easily enough.

Closing the curtains, Leora made sure that Tsuna was mostly settled in before turning off the lights. Crawling into the bed with him, Leora settled down on the other end, head cushioned on her arms near Tsuna’s feet.

She wasn’t expecting to get more than an hour, if that. The going trend of the last few days was to go to sleep, have nightmares about the crippling loss, grief, and fire, and then wake up to either stare at the wall or the ceiling until it was time for the daily beating with Kyouya.

At least she was going to be in an actual bed this time.

* * *

 

There wasn’t much of a transition between sleep and being awake. She wasn’t covered in a cold sweat, or her heart racing to pump adrenaline in a fight or flight response, or lungs heaving like she had for the last week. It wasn’t in increments either, sensations and sounds trickling in bits and pieces in a gradual process that left her fuzzy. It was instant. Between one heartbeat and the next she was awake, blinking in the darkness that was Tsuna’s room, only broken by the robot nightlight that was plugged in by his desk.

Shifting her gaze to the alarm clock, Leora stared dumbly at the red numbers telling her it was a few minutes shy of four in the morning. Scrubbing a hand over her eyes, Leora looked again. The seven turned into an eight, just two minutes shy of the hour.

It had been two when she had arrived at the Sawada house, closer to three when she had bundled Tsuna and herself in for a nap. A nap that had lasted almost a full thirteen hours. With no nightmares.

Pinching her arm hard enough, her watered eyes proved it wasn’t a dream.

Leora wasn’t sure what to think of that. On one hand, she wasn’t bone dead exhausted anymore. On the other, she apparently felt safe enough to completely conk out in what should only be described as enemy territory. That did not bode well.

Rustling of the blankets, and the warm weight that she assumed to be the covers shifted with them, reminded Leora that she was sharing a bed.

Tsuna had moved sometime in the night. He had shuffled down a bit, forgoing his pillow in order to curl around Leora’s legs. His face was smashed into her thigh and a leg was thrown over both of hers. He gave off little puppy snores every few breaths.

 _That’s adorable_ was the first thing that popped into the carney’s head. It was followed closely by _No, nonononono, bad thoughts, bad thoughts._

She could not think he was adorable when she was going to have to interact with him much closer than she wanted for the next couple of years. She would get attached when she would normally be objective. He would be one of her and that couldn’t happen because she _would_ be leaving before the shit hit the fan a la Reborn. She could _not_ afford to continuously check up on him like she would want to if that happened.

Curling her lip, the carney outright glared at the small boy. “You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you, you little shit?”

Tsuna’s response was to press his face more firmly into his makeshift pillow and tighten his grip on her legs with a content sigh.

“I’m taking that as a yes.” Leora told him flatly. Shifting, the carney settled back down so she was facing the clock. She would give it a few more hours before she got up to stretch and meet Kyouya.

She would raid Nana’s kitchen first though. There was a chance that the housewife would either have instant or honest to god _real_ fucking coffee. She really hoped it was the later. She would chew the beans if she had to.

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

_I'd hoped the language might come on its own, the way it comes to babies, but people don't talk to foreigners the way they talk to babies. They don't hypnotize you with bright objects and repeat the same words over and over, handing out little treats when you finally say "potty" or "wawa." It got to the point where I'd see a baby in the bakery or grocery store and instinctively ball up my fists, jealous over how easy he had it. I wanted to lie in a French crib and start from scratch, learning the language from the ground floor up. I wanted to be a baby, but instead, I was an adult who talked like one, a spooky man-child demanding more than his fair share of attention._

_― David Sedaris_

* * *

 

Over the next few days Leora and Tsuna settled into a routine of sorts.

Leora would wake up at four to head to the park, get in her morning routine, then her and Kyouya would beat the shit out of each other once he arrived. After the one week deal was up, however, the carney stopped waiting for him. Most of her was black and blue by that point, and Tsuna had damn near lost his mind with worry when he realized his only friend was hurt.

He didn’t know the full extent of the injuries, but the black eye she got from the last beating session with Kyouya had him screeching his lungs out as he tried to bodily haul her to Saito-sensei’s house. It to climbing on top of the wall surrounding the Sawada residence and threatening to go home for the rest of the week before he calmed down.

After leaving the park Leora would wander around town for hours, jumping from roof to roof, only coming down to pickpocket people, and spying on the strip joint _Parallel_ to get a better idea of the owner’s character. His workers all seemed nice enough; none of them were druggies from what she could tell, and the bouncer would wait for the girls so he could walk them to the train station when the place closed.

Around two or three she’d head back to the Sawada house to fend off Nana’s attempts to stuff her with food, and spend the rest of the day with Tsuna.

They still weren’t doing much; poker every now and then – Tsuna was getting halfway decent at it – some video games, and stretching. A lot of emphasis on the stretching.

“Leora, why do I have to do this again?” Tsuna whined, the nervous stutter he had already forgotten as he bent at the waist to grab his feet, using the hold to attempt to press his upper body flat against his legs. Next to him Leora was folded in half, head resting on her shins as she stared apathetically at the boy.

“You need to be more flexible.”

“But this hurts!”

“It’ll hurt less the longer you work at it, and it’ll help you when you practice falling.” Leora shot back, zero sympathy in her voice as she switched to a split before putting her head back on her shin and curling her hands around the arch of her foot.

He wasn’t even working on splits yet, the big baby. This was _nothing_.

Tsuna pouted at the lack of sympathy but dutifully went back to his assigned task, albeit with a grimace.

“Why can’t we work on falling now instead of this?” Tsuna tried again after another minute of burning pain in the back of his legs. Leora, who had started to doze off in her current position, cracked open one dark, cranky eye to stare flatly at the brunet.

“Because you’re head hasn’t finished healing, and you don’t need another concussion.” She told him bluntly, “Now shut up and bend before I sit on your back to hurry this along.”

With a scared squeaking noise Tsuna redoubled his efforts.

* * *

 

“Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow” Tsuna muttered under his breath with every step he took towards the kitchen. Leora, who had decided to forgo her feet and walk on her hands for the entire visit so far, used her foot to nudge at his shoulder.

“You’re not going to get any sympathy out of me Tsuna, so you might as well stop whining.”

Tsuna shot her a wounded look.

“But it _hurts_.”

“I told you it would.” The girl reminded him. “You just need to keep it up and soak in cold water for about a month and then the worst of it will be behind you. Besides, you’re a kid.” She pointed out, “You’re more flexible right now. If you tried to do this as say, a teenager, this would hurt a hell of a lot more. Better to just get it out of the way while it’s easy.”

“But it still hurts.” Tsuna muttered petulantly, making Leora roll her eyes.

“Ask Nana for some pain killers, then go take a bath.”

Tsuna paused at the bottom of the stairs, giving her a speculative look. “Will that really help?”

“Yes. Now let’s eat. After that you can take your drugs, take a bath, then go to sleep.”

The look Tsuna shot her was annoyed, but he didn’t stop walking to the kitchen. Climbing into his chair he watched in fascination as Leora kind of just, _rolled_ into a standing position to climb into her own chair and start munching on the onigiri Nana had set out.

They sat in silence for a few minutes as Nana bustled around the kitchen, making coffee at Leora’s request, getting things ready for dinner and encouraging the little girl at her kitchen table to eat more than one onigiri.

On his second to last rice ball, Tsuna piped up. “Do I _really_ have to take a nap?”

“Do you feel better after you take one?” Leora asked. Tsuna thought about it as he chewed, and reluctantly nodded his head after he swallowed.

“Yeah, I do.”

“Then take a nap.” Leora said matter-of-factly, in the same way Tsuna had heard his teachers say the sky was blue, or the grass was green. If it made him feel better, take a nap.

It wasn’t an order, not really. It was more of a suggestion that he couldn’t really argue against. If it made him feel better, then why not?

He didn’t know why, but hearing someone else put it like that made him feel really happy. Then again, he’d been nothing but really happy since Leora had agreed to be his friend and proved it again and again every time she came over.

“Are you going to take a nap too?” Tsuna asked around another mouthful of rice, careful not to inhale the grains and choke. Leora didn’t look up from her coffee.

“No. I have some errands to run before I head back to my apartment, so I need to go.”

And Tsuna’s good mood immediately plummeted. Furrowing his eyebrows, he began chewing his rice like it had done him some great wrong. He didn’t like it when his friend went home. There was always a nagging fear that one day she would leave and just not come back.

“Will you be back for dinner?”

“No.” Tsuna barely hid a wince. Eyes on his plate, he shoveled the rest of his snack into his mouth to keep from saying something stupid like whining at her to stay. That always made her freeze up and look kind of scared, kind of like how he knew he looked when he was cornered by his bullies.

It didn’t help that Leora didn’t seem to like his house very much. She was okay when she was in his room, but even then she was always kind of stiff and uncomfortable looking. That was one of the main reasons Tsuna kept giving into the ‘strongly encouraged’ naps so easily. He could usually get her to take one with him and she was more relaxed once she woke up, if only a little bit.

Or at least distracted. She got really flustered when she realized that Tsuna always ended up shuffling in his sleep so he would wake up hugging her.

It wasn’t even his fault! It’s not like he could control what he was doing in his sleep. A _nd_ she made him feel less lonely and warm. Having her close felt right. So of course he wanted to her to be nearby. He _probably_ should feel embarrassed that he kept cuddling up to a girl, but he couldn’t really bring himself to care.

It was also just a teeny tiny bit funny how she didn’t seem to know what to do once she realized he was hugging her, but he was never going to tell her that.

“Are we going to work on stretching again tomorrow?”

Finally looking up from her coffee Leora gave him that look. The one that he had seen a lot over the first few day of their friendship when he had to tell her more about himself, all the while trying to avoid how he was Dame-Tsuna. Her inky, almost-black eyes would sharpen and seem to stare straight though him, through whatever he was saying, like he was a bug under a microscope. Normally this would have made him uncomfortable; he couldn’t brush things off like he did for Nana, couldn’t lie. Leora would see right through it and just _know_.

He wasn’t, uncomfortable that is. A bit anxious that she would leave like everyone else did when the Italian realized just how Dame he was, but he wasn’t uncomfortable. He was a bit relieved. Here was someone he didn’t have to lie to about how he was feeling or try to explain things, because lying wouldn’t work and she always guessed what he was trying to explain. His friend seemed to noticed everything, and wouldn’t let him do something he didn’t really want to do or let him be upset if there was a way around it.

“I was planning on it. Why? Did you want to do something else?”

Tsuna fiddled with his cup for a moment, mustering up what little courage he had so he could ask what he’d been thinking about on and off again since he was admitted to the hospital. Looking up into sharp eyes Tsuna opened his mouth, then felt the courage drain away like water down the kitchen sink.

“ _It’s nothing_!” he squeaked, suddenly finding his tea cup the most interesting thing in the room. Across the table, Leora made a humming noise and took another sip of her coffee.

“You suck at lying.”

“I’m not lying!” Tsuna denied, still not looking up from his cup. Leora snorted.

“And I’m the Queen of England. Just tell me what you want to do Tsuna. The worst I can say is no.”

Chewing on his lip, Tsuna thought it over. She wasn’t wrong, and she hadn’t been wrong for the entire time the brunette had known her. She had some weird explanations for things at times, but she hadn’t been wrong yet. The worst she could do _was_ say no.

“Can you teach me Italian?” he blurted before his brain fully decided on voicing the request, then promptly chugged what was left of his tea in an attempt to hide his blushing face.

Leora blinked, eyebrows slightly raised as she looked at Tsuna.

“I can if you really want.” She agreed slowly, almost sounding out the words, “What brought this on?”

Tsuna wiggled in his seat, nervously wringing his hands together as he glanced shyly up at the dark haired girl.

“I-I noticed you don’t seem very comfortable speaking Japanese.” Tsuna replied, mentally despairing over the stuttering, “A-and you mumble in Italian a lot. S-sometimes in another language too, I t-think.”

Leora blinked again. “I’m okay at Japanese, but I never really have to speak it that often. I don’t mind teaching you Italian, but you’d probably get more use out of English right now.” Now it was Tsuna’s turn to blink.

“You know English? So is that the other language you were speaking besides Italian?”

“It was either that or Icelandic. Maybe French.” Leora answered, sounding thoughtful, “Or Mandarin. Possibly Russian. I don’t really notice when I start ranting to myself.”

Tsuna gaped at her.

“You speak _seven_ languages?” he asked in disbelief as he double checked by counting on his fingers. Leora shrugged and took another sip of her coffee.

“More like ten, but I’m not completely fluent in all of them. Learning how to read and write some of them is a pain in the ass.” She said nonchalantly, like it wasn’t a big deal, before glancing back up at Tsuna and immediately started shifting uncomfortably. “Can you pick your jaw up off the floor? That’s really weird to look at.”

“You speak _ten_ languages! _How_ do you speak _ten_ _languages_?” Tsuna shrieked, pointing a shaking finger at Leora.

“I told you my family traveled a lot, so it was practical.” Leora explained defensively as she hunched over her coffee a bit more, “Plus no one in my family spoke just one language. My _Ama_ and _Afi_ were from Iceland. _Sifu_ Yaozu was originally from China. French was the universal language around the work sites and English was just good for business. You get _a lot_ of American tourists in Europe.”

“Are you even human?” Tsuna demanded after a minute of stunned silence, completely serious. Leora’s face was completely unimpressed.

“My family expected a lot of me, and I aimed to please. Now do you want to learn Italian or not?”

“Why not teach me all of them?” Tsuna shot back sarcastically.

He was kidding. It was obvious he was kidding. Unfortunately, Leora decided to pretend he wasn’t.

“It’s better to focus on one at a time so you don’t get the grammar confused.” The noirette mused thoughtfully, leaning back in her chair and stroking her bottom lip with a thumb as her right hand curled around her chin. “We can start with Italian since you already asked and once you get a good grip on that we can switch to English.”

Tsuna stared at her with wide eyes.

“I was _kidding_.”

Leora smirked. “You’ll need some notebooks, and you _will_ be getting homework. Definitely some pop quizzes.”

Tsuna whimpered.

He should have kept his mouth shut.

* * *

 

Finally leaving the Sawada house, Leora wasted no time getting out of the residential area and up to the nearest rooftop.

Firmly out of sight from the street below the carney sprawled out, relieved at being completely alone and out of the house with the severely delusional woman than was so set in her own happy little world that it set her teeth on edge and had her hair stand on end.

The woman radiated flowers and fucking sparkles like it was some kind of perfume and was dissociated enough from reality that you could kill someone in front of her like you were the second coming of Jack the Ripper and get away with it as long as you said it was just pretending.

Don’t get her wrong the woman was sweet as could be, and under normal circumstances the carney wouldn’t feel anything more than mild interest about the situation, but after more than an two hours in her company and constantly being smothered with her ‘motherly affections’ it was so overwhelming, so _obvious_ that something was _wrong_ with the women that Leora was genuinely surprised that it was only Saito-sensei who was trying to raise a red flag.

Leora hadn’t disliked Nana this much while reading the manga. Vaguely amused at the mild form of comic relief, but nothing like the skin crawling sensation she was getting now.

How the Tsunayoshi from the manga had turned out so normal was a mystery. He certainly didn’t get it from either of his genetic donors.

Speaking of the little brunette…

Rolling over so she was on her side and her cheek was pressed uncomfortably against the concrete of the building’s roof, Leora thought back over her interactions with the protagonist over the last few days.

His stuttering had all but vanished after that first night in the hospital, and he just seemed less shy and timid all around. He was smiling more, the kind that made flowers and sparkles bloom into existence like his mother, and he was slowly inching his way out of his shell as the days went by. He wasn’t that happy being cooped up in his room and napping, but he was a kid so Leora guessed that was normal.

He was uncomfortably clingy – uncomfortable for _her_ anyway – when he got the chance, but was easy enough to ignore because he was asleep when it happened, and couldn’t really be held accountable for that.

She ignored the part of her brain that was reminding her that ignoring the little Sky was a lesson in futility because the one and only time she tried to circumvent his need to cuddle he ended up sleep-walking after her as she dodged around the room, and nearly broke his neck trying to follow Leora’s last ditch swan dive out the window to the branches of the nearby tree. The carney had to bodily tackle him back through the window before he went ass over tea kettle out of it, and the brat didn’t even wake up. He just latched on like a limpet and buried his face in her shoulder with a pleased sounding hum. She was stuck on the floor for another _three hours_ because she couldn’t get enough traction to drag them both back to her futon.

Picking herself up off the roof, Leora set out towards the sketchier part of town to scout out potential drunks to pickpocket, banishing that very uncomfortable memory to one of the dark corners of her mind. Jumping from roof to roof with now practiced ease, Leora focused more on the brunet’s recent request.

He wanted to learn Italian.

The carney would willingly admit that she wasn’t that comfortable with Japanese – she didn’t need it for more than a month or two every other year – but she hadn’t realized that she slipped back into Italian or one of the other many languages used at the circus often enough that Tsuna would notice.

She wasn’t against the idea of Tsuna learning, quite the opposite in fact. This would help him a lot in the future and she would get the added benefit of being able to speak her native tongue with someone which was always nice.

She just had no idea how to teach him.

Her own language lessons had been more immersion than anything else. Most of her daily caretakers when she was young were from  different parts of the world and refused to speak anything other than their native tongue when she was around, intent on teaching her a ‘civilized’ language, unless in the presence of the Circus Master. Then they usually spoke the universal language of the circus which was French. A few would have mercy on her once she broke out into increasingly frantic charades and speak Italian, but they were few and far between. Add in the foreign countries and her chances of finding someone who spoke her mother tongue was practically non-existent growing up.

She wouldn’t be able to immerse Tsuna completely like she was. For one there was no way in hell she was letting him go to Italy, and second they were currently in Japan. Immersion wasn’t really an option.

Lists of vocabulary words should be a decent place to start she decided.  Basic sentence structures and grammar could be done with worksheets. She could also try to get her hands on Italian children’s books, but failing that she could probably bullshit some kind of story he could use to practice with. Or just put little name tags on everything with the Italian word. Nana might have a label maker, but if not she at least had tap.

Launching herself from the lip of the roof, Leora grabbed the drainpipe opposite her as quietly as she could, making quick work of shimming up it so she could crouch behind the neon sign for a pachinko parlor to half-heartedly eye the street below.

She could make Tsuna write a journal, the carney decided as she mentally rearranged her lesson plans. It would work on his sentence structure and ability to read the language, something she herself had a great deal of trouble with. At least a paragraph a day would be a good enough start, then multiple pages. She could have him turn it in once a week for her to read over and point out any mistakes he made. If he worked _really_ hard at it, he could have Italian down in a few months.

Thinking realistically, Leora extended the time estimate closer to anywhere from six months to a year. The seal fucked with everything, especially his cognitive abilities, so he was going to learn at a much slower pace than most would. She wasn’t going to give him any breaks, not even close, but she was going to go at his pace.

Once he had Italian down she would focus on English. Japanese students had a mandatory English class in school didn’t they? It seemed to be popular subjects in manga’s so there had to be some grain of salt with that truth. Considering she was now living in an _anime_ she should probably just swallow the whole damn shaker. Either way it was a really good universal language to have.

After that she could teach him Mandarin, or at least basic phrases. _Can I help you, are you lost, my name is Sawada Tsunayoshi, I am not your target,_ and _I know your Sifu_ would at least stall the five year old Chinese assassin long enough for Fon to find I-pin when she got sent to Namimori.

Content with the basics of her plan Leora turned her full attention to the street, zeroing in on a group of drunk middle aged men stumbling out of one of the nearby bar with their ties wrapped around their heads and using each other for support.

One of them was loudly advocating for another bar, claiming that the next round would be on him as he waived his comically fat wallet around in the air.

Leora smirked. Hello payday.

Creeping along the roof above them Leora followed them for another block, ducking behind more neon signs and raised edges of rooftops every few seconds to be sure no one could get a good look at her if they did manage to look up and see her.

The drunken idiots finally settled on another bar a few buildings away from them, the biggest of the bunch waxing what the carney was sure his alcohol addled brain thought to be poetic of the beauty of one of the bartenders. Or more specifically, her impressive rack.

Keeping an ear out for the sound of drunken footsteps so she would know their location, Leora quickly vaulted from one building to another, then one more before dropping down into the alley nearest the bar. Keeping in the shadows of a set of trashcans, she counted.

One step. Two steps. Stumbling two steps forward, one back. One step. Stumble again. Three forward.

On the last stumble when all three men where using each other to stay upright Leora darted out, her tiny child’s hand easily snaking into pockets to pluck out the wallets of the two men nearest her alley before retreating back to the shadow of the trashcans. The men made it to the bar and stumbled in none the wiser.

Scanning the street one last time Leora went back to the roof, settling down behind another sign to go through her latest acquisition.

Another round for everybody guy hadn’t been exaggerating about his ability to pay. The wallet was stuffed full, a receipt for a bank withdrawal dated that day tucked among the bills. The other wallet was nowhere near the amount of the first, but it was till a decent sum. Pocketing the money, Leora took careful aim and tossed the mostly empty wallets in front of the bar as close to the door as she dared. She wasn’t going to keep the cards or IDs, she wouldn’t have much use for them _and_ it would be a sure fire way to prove her guilt if she was ever caught. With how drunk the men were they would probably assume they just dropped them. Even if they didn’t Leora would be long gone by the time they realized they were without funds.

Satisfied with her haul for the night Leora set out for her apartment with the intent of getting at least a few hours of sleep. It was edging towards one in the morning according to her watch, which left her with only three hours or so before her internal alarm had her up for her normal routine.

More like two if the nightmares struck again.

Whatever. Coffee was created for sleepless nights and Nana didn’t have a problem giving a physically young child a pot of the stuff or the beans if asked.

Eating the beans tasted like eating expresso flavored tree bark, but it was better than nothing until she got a coffee pot and grinder of her own.

Or some chocolate. Chocolate covered coffee beans would be a decent enough replacement for the liquid stuff. But both would be better.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

* * *

 

_If I died and went straight to hell, it would take me at least a week before I realized I wasn’t at school anymore._

* * *

 

“This…is a lot harder than I thought it would be.” Tsuna bemoaned, staring at the Italian alphabet Leora had written out and was having him practice writing as he sounded out the letters. Leora didn’t look up from the Italian name tags she was sticking to everything.

“What made you think it would be easy?”

“You learned so many…” the brunet muttered petulantly, attempting to write out the letters again and drooping when his attempts didn’t match the looping script of the original.

“I learned through immersion so I didn’t really have a choice.” Leora admitted wryly, balancing on top of the lone bookcase to put the word for ceiling where Tsuna could see it from his bed. She had to hurry before he noticed her, least he start shrieking again. The boy was afraid of everything; dogs, other people, heights, school, loud noises, surprises in general, and more recently, Leora getting hurt. Sweet, but really annoying, especially when he started screeching. She wasn’t even that high off the ground for fucks sake. He was going to have a stroke the first time he saw her climbing a lamp post.

Label successfully stuck to the ceiling Leora allowed herself to pitch forward, flipping in midair and landing on the bed in a seated position. Tsuna looked up from his work at the noise, but seeing nothing wrong he went back to staring dejectedly at the alphabet.

“What’s ‘immersion’?” he asked after another minute, glancing at her hesitantly over one shoulder. Lacing her fingers together and behind her head Leora leaned back against the wall.

“No one else around me spoke Italian for almost a year after we left Italy,” she explained, “Didn’t read or write it either. You learn whatever language that’s being spoken pretty damn fast that way, even if it is harder.”

Tsuna perked up slightly at that. “How long did it take you to learn a language that way?”

“About three months, but I was fluent by the end of it.”

“Would…” the boy started to ask, before hesitating again. Seeing Leora’s raised eyebrow Tsuna flushed, averting his eyes as he fiddled with his pencil. “I mean, do you think that would work for me?”

Leora shrugged. “If you really want to learn it quickly and don’t mind doing charades to talk to me until you get the hang of it, sure.”

Tsuna mulled over that for a bit, staring down at the alphabet he was copying intently as he chewed on the end of his pencil. They fell into a, not awkward but not a comfortable silence after that. Tsuna went back to his assigned exercise and Leora laid down on the bed moving several coins around her fingers.

Watching the glint from the overhead light on metal, Leora absently sped up, rolling the coin back and forth over the knuckles of one hand while she switched to flipping the coins between fingers on the other.

It was one of the first exercises Master Philip had started her on at _Cirque de Lumière_. It was really difficult when starting out, but once you got used to the exercise it was oddly relaxing.  Her considerably smaller hands made her focus more than she usually would so as not to drop them, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. It just meant she didn’t have the time to think as much. Probably why she’d been doing it so much lately in all honesty.

Having time to think was a downward spiral of anxiety and panic that got deeper and steeper the more she caught herself plummeting, and more and more difficult to claw her way out of.

Staying busy and occupied was the best thing she could do right now. Luckily it wasn’t that hard to do; between exercising, stalking the strip club employees, acquiring money, and hanging around Tsuna she didn’t have much free time.

She didn’t have much time to sleep either, but it wasn’t affecting her that badly as of yet. With how often she’d be spending at the Sawada household in the foreseeable future she at least had a steady source of coffee.

Nana, despite all her flaws, was a goddess in the kitchen. The food all had this tinge of wrong to it that Leora was pretty sure was all in her head – or maybe it was a side effect of falling into an anime world? For all she knew the transition had royally fucked up her insides and that was why she didn’t really get hungry anymore – but her coffee was delicious and Leora took ruthless advantage of that whenever she came over.

“Tsu-kun! Leora-chan!” cheerfully rang out along with a few knocks to the door, snapping both of the one’s named attentions to the door as Nana stuck her head in, “Do you want some snacks?”

Well speak of the devil and she shall appear.

Leora sat up so she could fully look at the housewife. From his spot at the table she could see Tsuna’s fluffy head bobbing up and down frantically as he pushed away the notebook he’d been writing in to the opposite side of the table.

He had been working for over an hour. For a kid with a mental disability and a limited attention span that all brats his age seemed to have that was impressive. More caffeine wouldn’t hurt either.

“Can I have coffee Nana-san?”

“Leora-chan, please, call me Mama.” Nana chastised gently as she gave another _sparkling_ grin that left the carney’s vision dancing with spots, “and of course you can dear. We can get it on the way home from the supermarket.”

Leora just stared at the woman blankly while her son’s relief melted into worried apprehension.

“We’re going out Mama?” he asked hesitantly, like he was afraid of the answer, preemptively cringing like that would ward off the reply.

“Yep!” Nana chirped, oblivious to her son’s discomfort, “I need a few more ingredients for dinner. And since you haven’t been out of the house much I figured it would be a good trip for you~”

Tsuna did not agree with this. _At all_ if the loss of color and deer in the headlights look was anything to go by. Considering the last time he left the house he ended up in the hospital, Leora could understand the hesitance. However, she held no sympathy for the brunet. A trip to the store was one of the least life threatening things he was going to do with his life. He was almost entirely healed and needed to get the fuck over his fear of outside because Leora wasn’t going to stay in his house longer than absolutely necessary. He could learn Italian just as easily by naming random shit on the street as he could by sitting at a desk.

“Can I get an ice coffee?” Leora asked, sliding off the bed and completely ignoring the betrayed look Tsuna shot her. Nana graced her with another smile that had flowers blooming in the back ground, effectively unnerving the carney, as she ushered the two of them downstairs so they could put on their shoes and she could grab her purse.

* * *

 

Shopping done with, Nana took them to a café that she and her friends liked to frequent when they got together to gossip about whatever it was housewives liked to talk about. It was a weird blend of modern and traditional styles; steel appliances and white brick walls painted with the images of sakura trees lined the room, but the tables and counter of the bar looked like they were made of old wood in a style Leora vaguely remembers seeing in an onsen she and the other trapeze girls had splurged on a few years ago. It was an odd mix that went surprisingly well together if you didn’t pay too much attention to the details.

Ignoring the disjointedness of the place, Leora focused solely on the large cold brew coffee laced with expresso that she’d ordered. The barista hadn’t looked happy giving a child coffee, but hadn’t been able to argue in the face of Nana’s smile and Leora’s intense stare. So three minutes later the carney was sucking down one of the better cold brews she’d ever had while simultaneously doing her best to ignore the brunet seated across from her.

Tsuna was munching his way through a chocolate bread roll and sulking that his mother had taken the seat next the tiny Italian. Leora was enjoying the break; since stepping out of the house Tsuna had glued himself her side, hand fisted her shirt in a white-knuckled grip that only got tighter with every loud noise and blind corner they turned, never mind the fact that with Nana there any kids they came across wouldn’t be able to do jack shit. Leora had to run off to the bathroom to get away, and even then the brunet had camped out by the door after she’d pried him off of her.

‘Tsuna was a complete weakling’ her tiny Italian ass. She’d known trapeze girls with weaker grips than his.

“How’s your coffee Leora-chan?”

“It’s fine.”

“I’m glad you like it!” Nana exclaimed with a bright grin. Taking another sip of her own coffee Nana fixed all of her attention on Leora, folding her hand primly on the table with a certain glint in her eye that had the carney stiffening in her chair.

“So Leora-chan,” Nana all but crooned, “are you excited about starting at a new school?”

Leora promptly choked on her drink as her brain crashed. Falling out of his chair, Tsuna scrambled around the table to pound her on the back like the Italian did every time he started choking. Nana continued on like nothing was wrong.

“I know it must be a bit scary starting a new school in a different country, but you’ll be able to make lots of new friends!”

Managing to pull her brain out of its own personal blue screen of death Leora started sputtering, “S-school?!”

If possible Nana brightened even more than her normal sparkly self, “Of course! Namimori Elementary starts next week. I already ordered Tsu-kun’s new uniforms since he’d grown a bit. Have your parents gotten yours yet?”

“Uh…”

“If not there’s still some time left.” Nana said dismissively, waving a hand in the air. “What was your last school like Leora-chan? Italian schools must be different than Japanese schools, and I’m sure Tsu-kun is curious too.” She asked with a pointed look at her son. Tsuna for his part, now that he wasn’t worried about Leora choking, did look curious. Between the twin expectant looks Leora blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“I’ve never _been_ to school.”

Forced out in a rush of syllables that stumbled over each other, the words were several octaves higher than the normal tone her eight year old voice possessed. That didn’t make the words any less true; her parents had never bothered to enroll her in a daycare and living with a circus didn’t exactly allow for a standard education and learning environment. She learned whatever the core members of the circus deemed important and then whatever she thought was interesting. _School_ , to Leora, was on the same level if not more of a foreign concept than falling into an _anime_.

 “You’ve _never_ been to school?” Tsuna exclaimed incredulously, voice rising to just shy of his signature shriek as he stared at her in shock. Nana’s eyes were wide, the hand she’d used to wave earlier covering her mouth.

“Ara, so you were homeschooled? I guess that makes sense, you did say your family traveled a lot.” Lacing her fingers together again so she could prop her chin on her joined hands, Nana gave Leora a searching look, “So this will be your first time going to school?”

“No.” Leora stated flatly, reaching for her coffee and pointedly ignoring the way Tsuna drooped like a wilted flower, “I won’t be going to school.”

There was no way in hell she was going to willingly let herself be trapped in a roomful of brats less than half her age for hours on end. She had agreed to stick around Tsuna and keep an eye out for him until she got her shit together or until he got at least one guardian. None of that involved following the brat to school like some overzealous guard dog.

Going to school wouldn’t kill him. Not until Reborn showed up in any case.

* * *

 

Neither Nana nor Tsuna were satisfied with Leora’s declaration about not going to elementary school. Tsuna got even more clingy than he was before, preferring to sit himself just next to her elbow when he could, shooting looks her way that alternated between relieved and crushing disappointment. At least he stayed quiet about it. Nana didn’t even try to be subtle; within two minutes of leaving the coffee shop she was waxing poetic about the joys of school and how much fun she had when she was Leora’s age. She tried to get Tsuna to join in on more than one occasion, but he ended up stuttering more than contributing. No surprise there.

After that Leora couldn’t turn around without some mention of elementary school being shoved in her face. Planning out lunches for Tsuna to take to school? Leora had to help, like seeing all the cutesy bento boxes would make the Italian cave in to Nana’s will. Getting Tsuna school supplies? Leora was dragged along, literally, by the back of her shirt to the department store so she could watch Tsuna pick out cartoon shaped erasers and notebooks. Picking up Tsuna’s uniform? Turns out Nana ordered the _wrong one_ so Leora was now the proud (and unwilling) owner of an elementary school girl’s sailor uniform. That fit her perfectly. Leora didn’t know whether to be impressed or freaked out.

Then there were the information packets. Nana wasn’t able to get in contact with Leora’s non-existent parents so she settled for giving it all to Leora. The carney couldn’t get away with throwing it out either, because Nana made her read through it as soon as it was placed into her tiny hands.

Apparently parents have to go to the Ward Office and apply for an alien registration if they wanted to enroll their child that wasn’t originally from the country. You’d need to take proof of address, since the school the kid attended is fixed by address. Once you have the alien registration card, you then go to the Board of Education office which is conveniently located in the Ward Office. The office will call the school the child will attend to make an appointment for the parents and child to meet the principal, usually the next day. The child can generally begin school immediately after the interview.

Vaguely interesting, but altogether useless; she didn’t have any parents or guardians to bullshit said paperwork and she’d give out her current address when it was pried out of her cold, dead hands. So school wasn’t happening. End of story.

She just couldn’t explain that to Nana least the housewife actually started thinking like a rational adult and called the cops on her. Or worse, if she ignored the rational part and just forcefully adopted the Italian.

So Leora settled for half assed arguments that her family didn’t want her to go to school and spending less time at the Sawada residence. She stayed just long enough to put together some exercise packets for Tsuna to practice Italian with before making a hasty exit.

Less time for her to be badgered, but that made the few time Nana _did_ corner her even more intimidating. Leora had been tied to a spinning wheel and used for target practice by an irate bear of an Icelandic man and that somehow _paled_ in comparison to a smiling Nana holding a kitchen knife with little bits of carrot sticking to the blade and telling her to sit so they could have some quality girl time while Nana cooked.

Tsuna wasn’t taking the extended separations well either. Somehow he’d gotten it into his head that it was him she was avoiding and not his mother. His way of fixing it was to attack the exercise packets with a fervor that took the carney aback. In her absence he would apparently practice for _hours_ , working through the packets and then re-doing them on his own like the more effort he put in would make Leora stay longer. He was actually picking it up pretty fast to be honest. Grammar screwed him up about a third of the time, but he’d gotten to the point he knew enough to start talking in basic sentences.

His accents made it a bit painful to listen to, but he was working on it.

All in all, Leora was pretty content with the way things were.

* * *

 

Dragged out on one last shopping trip the day before school started for Tsuna, Leora was mentally calling Nana, Namimori, and anime in general every foul word she could think of as she stared at yet another display of bright-ass pink pencil cases and erasers that had rainbow colored cats stamped on them. That were also colored in glitter.

Feeling her eye twitch, Leora debated setting the whole thing on fire with the lighter she lifted off another drunken businessman the night before. Possible dancing on the ashes.

Next to her Tsuna’s eye wasn’t twitching, but the long suffering look on his face made it clear he was about as done with Nana’s shit as she was. They were supposed to be getting stuff for _him_. And unless Tsuna had a secret preference for all things pink and girly, Nana was either _trying_ to make her son a target of bullying or outright bribing Leora.

“ _I’m not going to school. Why does she think_ this _will change my mind?”_ Leora muttered in Italian, low enough that Nana wouldn’t hear, left hand fiddling with the lighter in her pocket. It would take what, three seconds? Ten? She knew not all glitter burned but at least the fabric would catch on fire. If she was quick she could get away with it. Probably.

Tsuna muttered back in broken Italian, “ _She…try hard. Want… school…you go.”_

Switching back to Japanese Leora gave Tsuna a flat look. “Did you actually understand what I said or where you just guessing?”

Tsuna face turned sheepish. “I heard _no_ and _school_ and took a guess?”

“Are you asking me if you heard it or telling me?” Leora shot back, “And you messed up the sentence order again. Its person, verb, and then object. You keep putting the verbs at the end.”

Tsuna pouted, face screwing up slightly as he repeated the sentence structure under his breath like a mantra. Snorting in amusement, Leora turned her attention back to the display of pink... _things_ that Nana was still gushing over. After a few more minutes of tuning out Nana trying to get her interested in the display Leora nudged Tsuna with an elbow. Stopping his muttering, the brunet blinked big brown eyes at her in confusion.

"Do you actually want any of these pink monstrosities or can we sneak off to another department?”

Tsuna took another look at the display and shook his head violently, losing his balance slightly and toppling onto Leora who quickly righted him. Sending another quick glance at Nana – who had just turned away to look at another rack of pink stationary – grabbed Tsuna and started shoving him in a random direction.

“She’s distracted go go go!”

They wasted no time in hightailing it out of the store and farther into the mall, Leora dragging Tsuna on more than one occasion when he would trip or wasn’t moving fast enough for her liking, before stopping at one of the rest areas where Tsuna promptly collapsed on a bench wheezing for air. Leora was barely winded.

“You need to exercise more if you’re that tired already.” Leora informed him glibly, watching as Tsuna twitched before peeling himself off of the bench to stand in front of her with a determined look on his face. The fact he was still breathing hard and red faced didn’t help his image of nonchalance.

“I’m fine.” He told her seriously, causing Leora to roll her eyes.

“You still suck at lying.” She stated bluntly, childish indignation screwing up his features before falling into another pout. Turning in the direction she vaguely recalled housed the food court and started walking, Tsuna not far behind.

“Mama’s going to be mad when she realizes we’re gone.” Grabbing onto her shirt again, Tsuna scanned their surroundings anxiously once it fully sank that they’d run away from the adult.

“I’d give her thirty minutes minimum before she realizes we’re not following her anymore.” Leora shot back absently, “Just tell her we went to the bathroom or followed the wrong person and we’ll be fine.”

Tsuna leveled her a look that practically dripped with disappointment at her lack of basic morals, “Lying’s bad Leora.”

 _It’s bad if you can’t tell something’s a lie or if you get caught_ she thought, but kept it to herself. Instead she asked, “Would you rather go back and stare at pink things for another hour?”

“No!”

“Then why are you complaining?”

“Because lying is bad!”

“It’s either lie or go back to the pink things. Take your pick.” Tsuna’s teeth audibly clicked as he shut his mouth - looking entirely unhappy with his choices - but stayed silent as he sulked, an anime style cloud of doom falling over his head.

Morbidly curious and just a little freaked out, Leora poked it. Her hand went through it easily, but the air was thicker there, and when she pulled her hand back it felt like it was coated in something that made her skin crawl.

Yeah, that had to go. And she needed a shower. Like twenty showers. Fuck that was really uncomfortable.

Finally reaching the food court the carney’s eyes immediately zeroed in on the menu for an ice cream shop. Sweets made kids happy right? The ones at the circus always had cotton candy, caramel apples, and funnel cakes every time she saw them and they were always smiling. Then again, it was rare to find somebody frowning at a circus. Either way it was worth a shot. Having a literal cloud over your head couldn’t be health.

“Do you want ice cream? There’s a shop over there.” Indicating the location with a jerk of her head, Leora was relieved when the purple cloud disappeared and Tsuna gave her a shy, bright grin.

Well, that answered that.

* * *

 

Seated back by the benches Tsuna was happily working his way through a soft serve. Why they didn’t just call it ice cream, Leora didn’t know; it was basically the same thing as far as she could tell. It just melted faster. Leora herself wasn’t a fan of sweets so she settled for a bottle of water despite Tsuna’s insistance that she should get something else.

“For the last time, no, I don’t want any ice cream.”

That he was still insisting on. Tsuna pouted.

“But you only got water. You didn’t eat anything at the coffee shop either.” His face screwed up in thought for a moment before melting into a horrified look and started babbling, “You didn’t spend all your pocket money on me did you? I’m so sorry!”

“No I didn’t spend all my money on you,” Leora scowled, rubbing her ears in an attempt to ease the pain Tsuna’s ending shriek caused, “I _don’t like_ sweets Tsuna. I’m not going to buy them, I’m not going to eat them, so for the love of god just eat your ice cream and shut - before it drips all over your clothes.”

Guzzling the last of her water, Leora had to remind herself that Tsuna was just a little kid; he wasn’t the middle schooler from the manga or anime yet, and therefore didn’t deserve to have someone telling him to shut the fuck up.

Yet. She’d give him till he was eleven if she was still around by then. Probably. Curses slipped as easily out of her mouth as Italian or French, but she’d at least try and refrain from saying anything directly to him until he was older. He’d actually care, unlike Leora who had a much thicker skin and had been able to swear like a sailor since she was seven.

The joys of being a carney.

Getting up to throw her empty bottle away, Leora was halfway to the trashcan when something dark came barreling towards her. Falling into a split the blur passed through roughly where her head would be and into the nearest support pillar for the second floor.

Hibari Kyouya managed to keep himself from slamming into the stone face first, but he did bounce off with a very solid sounding smack. Staggering a bit, he turned around to face Leora, honest to god murder in his eyes.

“Kyouya!” And stopped mid-lunge to stare grumpily at the woman running towards them, hair falling out of her bun and into her wine red eyes. Finally reaching the benches, she stopped for a second to catch her breath before straightening and giving Kyouya a stern look.

“Kyouya, what have I told you about attacking other kids?” Kyouya wouldn’t the woman’s eyes, staring at the floor with a _pout_.

Still on the floor in a split Leora pinched herself to be sure this was really happening. There was no way Hibari Kyouya was being scolded by an adult – who was tiny to boot - and actually listening. The sting on her arm proved otherwise.

Sometime during the mess Tsuna had relocated to Leora. His hands where fisted at her shoulders as he huddled behind her, either to use her as another meat shield or to push her out of the way. They trembled slightly, which only got worse when the woman turned her attention on them.

“I’m sorry about that. I hope he didn’t scare you.” She smiled warmly, “Kyouya doesn’t usually do that out of the blue.”

So it was fine if he gave some warning?

“My name is Hibari Mingxia. Are you friends with my son?” The question itself was innocent, Leora could tell she was genuinely curious and maybe a bit hopeful her son had some friends. It still caused Tsuna to turn white, his soul leaving his body. Eye’s wide with shock Leora grabbed the tail end of it and jerked it back, slamming it back into Tsuna’s mouth and holding his jaw shut.

Before Leora could think of a response Kyouya was next to his mother, glaring daggers at her.

“You weren’t at the park.” He accused and his mother’s face brightened.

“Is this the friend you’ve been getting up so early to meet?” She exclaimed, kneeling down so she could get a better look at the Italian, “It’s so nice to finally meet you! I’ve been telling Kyouya to invite you over to our house for over a week now.”

“You haven’t been to the park.” Kyouya stated again, eyes demanding an explanation in a way that so like _Afi_ Viktor it jumpstarted her brain again.

“The week was over.” She reminded him, and his face screwed up into a scowl.

“That’s not important.”

“Kyouya, your friend must have been busy.” Mingxia chided before turning back to Leora, “Kyouya’s told us you’re a foreigner, but not much else. What’s your name dear?”

“Leora…” she answered warily, adjusting her grip on Tsuna’s mouth so his shaking wouldn’t make her lose her grip.

“How did you meet Kyouya if you don’t mind me asking? He doesn’t usually hang around other children his age.”

“We got cornered by yakuza and Kyouya took them out. When he tried to hit me I threw him into a wall. Then he chased be for about three hours through town trying to get revenge.” Leora told her bluntly, marveling at the sheer ridiculousness of the conversation and morbidly curious if the much more sensible seeming lady would react like Nana.

“Kyouya!” Mingxia barked, rounding on her son and Leora felt a bit better about the world. “That’s not how you make friends!” Annnd the feeling died.

“Sorry again. But I’m still glad you kept meeting up to play with him.”

“We weren’t playing. We were beating the shi- _crap_ out of each other.” Leora was wrong, so so wrong when she had thought that Mingxia was more sensible than Nana. Instead of being horrified and lecturing her son, or Leora, or both that fighting was bad like most parents, Mingxia got an almost manic gleam in her eye and her smile kicked up a notch.

“That way of making friends runs in the family I’m afraid. On both sides. I’m glad he didn’t drive you away. It’s about time he made another friend who wasn’t his cousin.”

Oh what the ever loving _fuck_ was wrong with these people? How was this making friends – Fon. Kyouya was related to Fon, Storm Arcobaleno and World’s Best Martial Artist. Kyouya’s dad was probably a Cloud. Jesus Christ maybe this _was_ normal for them.

Sensing Leora’s inner turmoil Mingxia changed the subject. “Have you finished school shopping?” she asked, holding up one of the shopping bags in her left hand, “We’re getting some last minute things. Are you excited about starting a new school Leora-chan?”

“I’m not-“

“We’re trying!” Nana broke in, shoving a bread roll in Leora’s mouth to keep her quiet as she beamed at Mingxia, “Her parents are home schooling her, but we’re trying to convince them to let her attend, aren’t we Leora-chan?” she asked sweetly. Leora couldn’t answer, gagging around the bread roll that had been lodged partially in her throat, trying to pull it out with one hand and still keep Tsuna’s mouth shut with the other.

Mingxia blinked at the sudden intrusion, before straightening up from her crouch to offer Nana a polite smile, “Hello, my name is Hibari Mingxia. You know Leora-chan?”

“Yes, she’s friends with my son!” Nana chirped, “She’s at our house every other day.”

Kyouya’s glare got worse, drilling holes into the two children on the floor and Tsuna’s soul tried to escape again.

“You said her parents homeschool her?” Mingxia asked, “They won’t be persuaded otherwise?”

“I haven’t been able to get in touch with them yet,” Nana admitted apologetically, “They travel for work, but Leora has been so excited about the idea of going to school with Tsu-kun.”

 _Lies! All lies!_ Leora thought viciously as she started gnawing her way through the bread so she could clarify that grossly inaccurate statement. Nana was excited about the idea of Leora going to school. Hell would freeze over before she was.

“She can attend if she wants to.” Mingxia insisted, causing a ball of terror to form in the pit of Leora’s stomach. The gnawing increased.

“My husband knows the principle.” Kyouya’s mom admitted, “If I ask I’m sure we can get the school to wave her paperwork until her parents are back. It’ll be well worth it,” she explained, placing a hand on top of her son’s head, “I’d love for Kyouya to have more friends at school.”

“That’s perfect!” Nana gushed, shoving another bread roll she pulled out of her purse into Leora’s mouth before she could start protesting, “I’ll make sure she’ll be there on time. Thank you so much!”

The two women chatted for a few more minutes, hashing out the details of Leora’s admittance, completely ignoring Leora’s frantic scrambling to get up off the floor and her mouth free. Tsuna was sitting on one of her legs and was still mostly dead weight. Giving up all pretense of keeping him alive she tried to shove him off, desperate to do _something_ to stop this nightmare from happening. By the time she was finally free and ungagged, the two women were done and saying their goodbyes, Nana taking a firm hold of Leora’s wrist to keep her from running away.

Grabbing one of Tsuna’s wrist with her free hand, Nana proceeded to drag them both out of the store, planning out what kind of lunches she would make for the two of them out loud as Leora clawed at her hand.

Curses spewed from her mouth as they made their way back to the Sawada residence, every vile word and name she could think of aimed at the housewife, who let it roll off of her like water from a gulls’ feathers.

Mother of fuck this can’t be happening.

She was _not_ going to elementary school.

No way in fucking hell.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

* * *

 

_Maybe terror and dread, once experienced, embed themselves into you even when the cause is gone, leaving behind a sleeping horror, which is too easily awakened._

_Rosamund Lupton_

* * *

 

Nana was Satan’s incarnate. That was the only explanation Leora could come up with. The ditsy housewife persona was just a mask she wore like a second skin to cover up the horns and pointed teeth, and the flowers and sparkles were to distract from the fire and brimstone that Leora would swear up and down would follow in her wake. She didn’t have _proof_ , but she was in an anime. When the hell did anyone need proof for _anything_ in a fucking anime?

After the disaster that was meeting the Hibari matriarch Leora had been dragged all the way back to the Sawada residence despite her best efforts. Clawing at the demons’ hand didn’t even leave scratch marks, and Leora was just about to grab one of the throwing knives she kept on her person to either stab Nana or cut off her own hand to escape. She hadn’t quite decided yet when her fingers closed around the hilt, but by then she had already been carried into the house and the door securely locked behind her with all the finality of a death toll.

Nana became a whirlwind as soon as she dumped her son and the Italian in the living room. There were lunches to be prepped and uniforms that needed to be ironed. Backpacks needed to be packed and placed by the door for tomorrow – backpacks and supplies that Leora hadn’t seen the gushing pit-spawn buy for her, but of course she did they were _fucking pink_ – and dinner had to be started on. Nana couldn’t let the kids go to bed hungry the night before their big day now could she? And of course Leora couldn’t go home, she would be nervous getting ready by herself and walking to school alone so _naturally_ she’d stay so Nana and Tsu-kun could walk with her the first day.

All of this was said with glittering eyes, bright smiles, and hands securely grabbing her around the waist every time the carney tried to jump out of a window. Even after Leora had excused herself to the bathroom, _locked the door_ , and pried open the window Nana would suddenly be right _fucking there_. No footsteps, no sound, just materializing out of thin air to tuck the tiny Italian under an arm, close the window, and continue with her fantasies about how much Leora would enjoy school.

After practically force-feeding the two kids in her care, Nana dumped them in a bath together – which had Tsuna turning bright red and nearly drowning as he floundered around trying not to look at her which Leora didn’t really understand, they were physically kids. There wasn’t that much of a difference in anatomy at this point – before stuffing them into pajamas sets that again perfectly fit before putting them to bed with explicit orders to go to sleep so they would be ready for their big day. And like clockwork, every _motherfucking time_ Leora tried to escape via window Nana would crack open the door and peek in, either to tuck Leora back into bed – which was humiliating she was a grown woman for god’s sake – or to giggle about how excited she was. All. Goddamn. Night.

The woman didn’t go to sleep.

Ergo, Nana was the devil. Born in the pits of hell, baptized in the souls of the damned, and crawled up from the grave of a murderer to torture whatever poor shmuck that she got her neatly manicured claws on with the purgatory that was elementary school.

And that poor shmuck was Leora.

“Hurry up Leora-chan~” Nana sang as she practically skipped on her way to Namimori Elementary, hands firmly clasped around her son and the carney’s wrists, “You don’t want to be late for your first day!”

“ _Be gone demon_ ,” Leora replied flatly in Italian, “ _I exorcise you, every impure satanic power, every incursion of the infernal adversary, every legion, every congregation and diabolical sect_.”

Nana just smiled down fondly, “I know you’re nervous Leora-chan, but you need to remember to speak Japanese during school, okay?”

Leora just scowled, continuing the mantra despite the fact that it wasn’t working. Knowledge from Supernatural apparently didn’t transfer over into an anime. Which was _unfair_. The universe had to give her _something_ to compensate for this clusterfuck, right? Maybe because it wasn’t in Latin?

“U-um… Leora?” Tsuna stuttered out hesitantly, “W-what are you saying? I don’t… don’t understand.”

“I’m trying to exorcise a demon,” she told him glibly, immediately going back to her chanting. Tsuna’s eyes got impossibly wide, gaze darting around like he’d see some great hulking figure lurking in the nearby alleys. He walked closer to his mother.

The irony of that was almost painful.

Bah, it didn’t matter. Leora would willingly go to purgatory; she’d let the demons in human skins introduce her to whatever roomful of brats they decided to stick her in, she’d stay for _maybe_ one class period before she excused herself to the bathroom and made her escape. Then she’d burn the uniform and never set foot in the Sawada house again.

So engrossed in plotting her escape while keeping up the chanting Leora didn’t notice as more kids and parents started trickling into the same street as them. She didn’t even notice when they reached a large gated building until a voice called out a cheery good morning and Nana visibly perked up, increasing her pace enough to make the carney stumble slightly at the change.

Hibari Mingxia, dressed smartly in a steel grey pants suit, was waving at them from just outside of the gate. Standing next to her, glaring kids and adults alike through the gates, was Kyouya… in the schools… sailor uniform...

Leora’s brain crashed as she was tugged forward so Nana could talk to Mingxia for a few minutes before both women ushered their two kids plus one into the school and up towards the principal’s office. Mingxia tried to shoe her son off to his own class, but he stubbornly followed in their wake. That made walking a little awkward because Leora couldn’t take her eyes off him.

Leora was vaguely aware of the trip to the principal’s office, and completely clueless on what exactly they had said. The two mothers talked to the extremely fat man who was in charge of the school, and whatever they said made him look incredibly uncomfortable, sweating almost through his suit as he was slowly started caving to their demands.

It wasn’t until about halfway through their conversation when Leora’s brain fully came back online and reached the threshold for basic functioning capacity.

She really couldn’t help it. As soon as she fully processed Hibari Kyouya wearing shorts with socks pulled up to his knees, the weird kerchief tie, and the ribboned hat she fucking lost it.

Falling to her knees, peals of laughter making it difficult to breath, Leora pointed a shaking finger at Kyouya.

“Y-you _snirk_ … sailor _hehehe_ uniform… _bahahahahahahhaha_!”

Oh god, where was a camera when you needed one? This was _more_ than worth the bullshit Nana pulled to get her to go here in the first place.

Kyouya didn’t agree. His eyes widened in shock before a flush crept up his neck and his cheeks were stained pink. With how pale his skin normally was it made the change of color stand out like a beacon and only made Leora laugh harder. Pulling out his tonfas from wherever he kept them, Kyouya snarled, “ _I’ll bite you to death!”_ before launching himself at the carney’s head.

Screeching, Tsuna knocked Leora to the ground and out of harm’s way, allowing Kyouya to sail over their heads and crash into the nearby bookcase. The meeting went to pot from there; papers, books, and the odd piece of furniture where thrown about, Tsuna and the principal were screaming, and Mingxia was frantically trying to wrangle her bloodthirsty son while Nana attempted to clean up the mess. And Leora…

Leora just kept laughing.

* * *

 

Nursing what was very likely to be cracked ribs and a fresh black eye, Leora admitted to herself that laughing probably hadn’t been the best idea she had to date. Completely unavoidable, but she should’ve held it together at least until Kyouya was out of the room.

Speaking of the brat, he was still embarrassed. Oh, the glare hadn’t lessened in the slightest since his mother managed to get a firm enough grip on him to talk him down, but she could still see the stubborn set of his mouth and the hunched up way he held himself when he would sneak glances over at the Italian. His ears were still a rather telling shade of pink. For the sake of her health she fought back another bought of snickering.

Leora _really_ needed that camera, because this needed to be fucking immortalized. The manga and anime hadn’t put too much emphasis on Kyouya’s character except the stereotypical bloodthirsty and aloof Cloud. Seeing how he covered up the sheer awkwardness and embarrassment of having to deal with someone who didn’t cower at his feet with violence was hilarious, and Leora offhandedly wondered if that was how _Afi_ Viktor had been like when he was young.

Grief slammed into Leora with all the force of a train. Unaware of how she tensed up, she didn’t notice the blood in her mouth as she bit down on her cheek or the sting of her nails as they bit into her palms. She wasn’t in the school anymore; everything blurred away until she was alone, curled up on the ground at the base of a tree tired, in pain, and so, so _broken_ after screaming in denial for everything not to be real, for everyone to not be _gone_. The hollow feeling was back, a yawning chasm in her chest that grew wider as the reminder of loss sent the loneliness, desperation, and fear – _no no no no_ _no –_ swirling around her throat with cold fingers, stealing her breath as they clawed at her lungs and squeezed her throat.

She couldn’t breathe. Everything hurt, a deep searing ache like she was cracking, fractures forming along her bones and spreading out to muscles, organs, lungs and _she couldn’t breathe she was drowning it hurts it hurts it hurts!_

“Leora!”

Tiny hands on her face snapped her back. Blinking at the worried brown eyes staring back at her, Leora focused on the sensation of hands on her face. Specifically the stinging. Tsuna must have slapped her.

Realizing she was paying attention now Tsuna yanked his hands away, but kept them hovering at his sides, concern making them twitch in aborted movements as he seemed to second think his every move.

“Are… are you okay?” he asked nervously, “You were… your mouth is b-bleeding and you were s-shaking. You…” He trailed off, looking over her intensely trying to spot any other injuries she might have gotten that could make her act like that.

Blinking at him again Leora ran her tongue over her teeth, tasting copper.

Oh. She _was_ bleeding. Probing at her cheek with her tongue she fully registered the stinging sensation she usually associated with cuts.

…Now that she thought about it her hands kind of hurt too.

Uncurling her stiff, uncooperative fingers showed eight crescent moon marks dug into her skin and bloody palms.

Leora just stared. She could see it, but it wasn’t really registering, like she was looking at it through a pane of glass. She knew she should probably wash her hand and stop the bleeding, get some bandages or something. She just couldn’t dredge up enough energy to care.

Rubbing her bloody hands on her skirt she gave Tsuna what was supposed to be a smile that felt horribly wrong on her face. From the way he was looking at her it probably didn’t look right either.

“I’m going to go find a restroom.”

Shouldering past him Leora walked farther into the school. The adults didn’t notice her leave. Taking random turns Leora ignored the classrooms full of kids and the handful of restrooms she ran across, never slowing down from a clipped walk until she reached a stairwell. She hesitated, for just a moment. These stairs would take her down to the main floor and away from the school; she could go back to her apartment, back to the bridge, back to the woods, _anywhere_ where she could just block out reality for a few hours, pretend that everything was _fine_.

Turning stiffly, Leora headed up the stairwell to the roof.

Closing the door behind her the carney did a quick sweep of the roof – dirty concrete, chain-link fence – before climbing the ladder attached to the concrete shed that housed the stairwell. Sprawling out on her back Leora stared up at the clouds, tracing their outlines with her eyes as she focused on her breathing.

The roof wasn’t a lyra; it wasn’t a high wire, or an aerial silk, or a trapeze bar. But it _was_ up high, and she desperately needed that disconnect and comfort she got from being off the ground.

It wasn’t a lyra, but it would do for now.

* * *

 

An unknown amount of time later, Leora was still on the roof and Kyouya was standing next to her, scowling in a mix of affront and displeasure at the tiny girl seemingly passed out on the roof. Jabbing her with a tonfa didn’t even make her twitch. Readjusting his grip so he could use more force, Kyouya was just about to hit her when the Italian cracked open an eye.

“Hit me again and your ass is getting thrown off this roof.” Lowering the tonfa, Kyouya scowled.

“School is over. You did not go to class.”

“I never agreed to be a student here. Your mother and Nana just did whatever the fuck they wanted and dragged me along.” Leora shot back, fully opening her eyes – or at least as much as she could with her right eye blackened and swelling – to give the boy a flat look. Kyouya glared at her for that, but his annoyance deflated some. Leora noted sometime between the fight that morning and now he had lost the hat.

“The fluffy herbivore disrupted classes trying to find you,” Kyouya informed her grumpily, like it was her fault, “He went into several girls’ restrooms, club rooms, and other classrooms.”

“He does kinda look like a bunny, doesn’t he? Or a kitten.” Leora mused, ignoring the second half of Kyouya’s statement. She didn’t want to deal with anyone named Sawada right now. “How’d you find me anyway?”

“You left a blood trail.”

“Huh. Knew I probably should’ve bandaged my hands.”

Somewhere down below children were laughing, a harsh, high pitched sound as they gathered in the courtyard. The sound made Leora flinch. It was nothing like the laughter she heard at the circus, just another grating difference. She did her best to ignore it.

“You are not allowed on the roof.”

“When did you become a cop?” Crossing her legs, Leora propped her chin on a fist, “I’m not leaving the roof until all the other kids leave the school. Don’t give me that look. I’m sure you like being surrounding by loud, screaming children as much as I do.”

Kyouya’s eyes lit with a grudging understanding, his tonfas disappearing into his uniform.

“Fine. I’ll allow you to use the roof-“

“How generous of you.”

“-during lunch breaks and after school.”

“Aaand there’s the kicker. Look kid, I’m not attending this school. I’m not going to be attending any other school. Nana isn’t going to change that, your mother isn’t going to change that, so what makes you think access to a roof top for _maybe_ three hours tops would make me change my mind? My education is going to stay the same as it always has, and it’s not going to be in a concrete purgatory for eight circus damn hours that could be a hell of a lot more useful someplace fucking else.”

Rising to her feet she dusted off her skirt – ignoring the stinging that caused her hands – before giving the skylark a half-assed salute. “Nice sales pitch, not gonna happen. Now if you’ll excuse me- _oh for fucks sake_.”

From her vantage point on top of the shed, standing up Leora had a straight view down into the courtyard – and the group of kids in a rough circle shoving Tsuna around with over exaggerated kicks and chops Leora had only ever seen in bad kung fu movies and little kids playing ninja.

Left eye twitching slightly, Leora turned to face Kyouya. “Those are the same kids that I asked you to beat the shit out of, yes?”

Walking over to get a better look, Kyouya wrinkled his nose in distaste but nodded, a flat ‘hn’ voicing his agreement. Leora felt the twitching in her eye kick up a notch. Then she smiled.

“Let’s make another deal, Kyouya.” The carney said simply, completely at odds with the harsh slash of her mouth and cold, cold eyes that turned warm coffee into chips of glass that had Kyouya stiffening, “You’ll make it _very clear_ to all the rest of the fuckwit munchkins that attend this place that Sawada Tsunayoshi is off limits, starting with the wannabe Johnny Lawrence dipshits down there, and I’ll regularly spar with you.”

Bloody thirsty glee lit up Kyouya’s face, a feral smile showcasing his teeth when Leora stuck out a hand for him to shake.

Deal struck, both of them headed down the stairs, any kids still left in the school parting before them like the red sea and plastering themselves against the walls in an attempt to get out of their way. Leora hung back a bit once they reached the courtyard, giving Kyouya plenty of room to work, impassively watching the beating, screaming, and blubbering going on in front of her.

Personally, Leora didn’t really feel anything for kids other than the brief thought of ‘that one’s cute’ or ‘this one’s annoying’ which was about the same reaction she’d give something like a puppy. Her family might have stressed the importance of protecting children under a certain age, which Leora willingly accepted and agreed to, but Leora didn’t personally interact with them that much and as far as the carney was concerned letting them get what they deserved was appropriate. Leora felt no sympathy for their injuries or their hospital bills.

Giving it a few moments to let the carnage get fully underway – Kyouya’s movements as he smashed one of the brats in the ribs was perfect, body fluid and graceful as the kid went flying – the carney walked over to where Tsuna had fallen after one last shove, half curled in an upright position as he gaped in shock and horror at the skylark.

Nudging him gently with a foot had Tsuna jerking in shock, flailing his arms to cover his head as he fell fully onto the ground until he got a good look at who was standing over him.

“Leora!”

Moving faster than she thought was possible Tsuna was on his feet. The next moment he was a blur, arms wrapping around her in a vice grip despite her going rigid at the contact as he frantically babbled at her.

“ _There you are!_ You went to the bathroom but you didn’t come back and the principal and Mama couldn’t find you then I couldn’t find you and I was really worried because you were bleeding and you didn’t look alright even though you said you were and people always have to go to the hospital after Hibari-san bites them to death and _oh my god why is there blood on your uniform?!”_

The ending shriek nearly shattered her eardrums, but that was fine because Tsuna finally let her go so he could get a better look at her. Rubbing at her arms to get rid of the sensation of being hugged – contact never happened, not like that and it made her skin _crawl_ with weird sensations that she didn’t like – Leora took a few steps back to be out of immediate grabbing distance.

“I’m _fine_ , so stop freaking the fuck out,” she snapped when he stepped closer so he could keep hovering, “I don’t need a hospital and you didn’t have to look for me. You should’ve just gone home.”

Tsuna looked like a kicked puppy, “But-“

“No,” Leora cut him off, voice cold and edged with exhaustion, “I left because _I’m not attending this school_. I am fine. End of story. Now get your shit so you can leave before the ambulances show up.”

Tsuna hesitated, curling in on himself slightly under her gaze, before collecting his scattered school things. Shoving it all haphazardly into his bag, he held it in front of his chest like a shield as he made his way back to Leora, knuckles white from his grip. Opening his mouth a few times Tsuna started to speak, but seemed to think better of it, each failed attempt making him shrink into himself a little more.

After a few more tries of failing to speak and Leora doing nothing but staring, Tsuna turned to leave, a literal cloud of depression hanging over his head.

God-fucking- _damnit!_ She hadn't meant to do that.

Taking a deep breath, Leora closed her eyes and let it out. In out, in out, shoving the turmoil of emotions that’d been assaulting her all day into a box at the back of her mind, not out of sight or forgotten, but out of the way enough she could function like a passable human being for a while.

“Did you finish your grammar sheets and vocabulary?” she called out.

Whipping his head around mid-step, hope in his eyes, Tsuna had to take a moment to catch his balance before nodding his head with a hasty ‘ _y-yes’_.

“We can go to a café. I’ll quiz you and check your pronunciation. You can pick the place.”

Tsuna’s reply was a grin. It didn’t bring flowers or sparkles into existence and it didn’t light up his face. It was small and shy and bright, quirking up the corners of his mouth into slight dimples as he waited for Leora to catch up with him.

“T-there’s a coffee shop a few blocks over.”

“Lead the way then.”

It hit her about an hour and a half into walking Tsuna through a new set of speech exercises, that she didn’t mind Tsuna.

It wasn’t immediate, but she felt comfortable enough in his presence to relax, almost to the level she did when she was high above everything else. Tsuna didn’t demand anything, didn’t pressure her, didn’t really make her life more complicated – almost all of the grief she’d gotten so far since waking up here had been because of his mother or other kids, none of it was _really_ his fault – and being in his presence didn’t leave her feeling discordant. She didn’t like Nana or Mingxia or a good chunk of Namimori that much, but she didn’t mind Tsuna.

As a person, she kinda liked him.

And that scared her.

 


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

* * *

_Maybe I'm asking for too much, a tiny piece of normalcy._

_-Joe Budden_

* * *

The following weeks after the school incident Leora decided she badly needed some normalcy back in her life. The usual morning workouts weren't going to cut it, and sparing with Kyouya only did so much for stress relief.

Tsuna didn't agree. At all.

"Hieee! Don't do that it's not safe!" Tugging at his hair, Tsuna paced back and forth in front of the metal beams that made up the skeletal structure of what would eventually be a building.

Waving from where she was dangling upside down from an ankle, the Italian grinned, all bright and happy and relaxed for the first time in a while, "Its fine. Don't worry."

"You're three stories off the ground!"

Which really was a pity. The construction site she was currently using as a playground was for a soon to be apartment complex, and not a particularly tall one at that.

Well, beggars can't be choosers and it was the tallest thing she could find to attach one of her aerial silks to that wasn't surrounded by people.

"Please, please,  _please_  come down before you get hurt!"

"Just five more minutes."

"You've been up there for over an hour!"

"What does that have to do with wanting five more minutes?"

"Please just come down!"

" _Fine_. Ruin my fun." Scaling the silk up to the beam where she'd secured it, Leora hauled herself up and out of midair so she could pick the knot apart. That done she wrapped the fabric once around the beam and the ends several times around her wrists for extra security and to shorten the length before swan diving off her perch.

Tsuna's scream of terror was blocked out by the rush of air. The dive had taken her far enough away that the silks almost immediately went taunt, swinging her in an ark across the room and closer to the ground, the momentum making it easier to flip into a better position to keep her arms from being dislocated.

On the reverse swing, when she was closest to the ground, Leora let go of one hand, falling with the momentum and rolling before popping up with an elated grin, grey silk trailing behind her like a tail.

Starting the laborious process of rolling up the silk, Leora called over her shoulder, "Alright, I'm done. Do you still want to go to the park?"

When she didn't get a reply she stopped and actually looked at Tsuna. The boy was standing stock still, paper white with a look of horror frozen on his face. His soul was escaping from his mouth.

With a curse, Leora sprinted after it, silk thrown haphazardly to the ground in a heap behind her.

* * *

"You need to stop  _doing_ that."

"It wasn't my fault!"

"How was your soul,  _your_  soul, escaping  _again_ , not  _your_  fault?"

"You scared me!" Tsuna shrieked indignantly, arms thrown up in the air as he glared to the best of his abilities at the Italian. Leora rolled her eyes.

" _Everything_  scares you," she pointed out dryly, "And I'm not going to stop so you're going to need to get used to it."

Glaring mulishly at her, Tsuna stuck his hands in his pockets, shoulders hunched, "It's not safe."

"So?" Hefting the backpack she decided to keep – pink and glittery aside it was useful – the carney pinned Tsuna with a look that had him straightening, albeit still confused. Running a hand through her short tresses with a sigh Leora tried to explain.

"Look," she said after a moment, recalling what Master Phillip had told her some years ago, "a boat is safest on land, but that's not what it's built for," she said slowly, "I wasn't meant to stay on the ground, Tsuna. I'm happiest when I'm up high, so I'm going to keep doing it. I'm not stopping that for you." The eyes boring into Tsuna's brown ones went hard. "So stop asking."

An instant later her eyes went back to normal like they never changed to begin with. Tsuna still didn't look happy, but he wasn't bitching or cringing in terror so Leora counted it as a win.

(Unknown to her, Tsuna had stopped being scared of the Italian after first woke up in the hospital hugging her like a teddy bear. He still wasn't happy his friend wasn't going to stop doing dangerous stuff, but annoying her  _did_  get her face to change. Leora's face almost never changed expression; a grin here or there, moving her eyebrows a bit, and that rare , genuine smile he'd only once or twice, but for the most part it stayed as blank as paper. Only her eyes changed and he was getting better at reading them the more he got her to react. Those were her stubborn eyes and he mentally filed that away for later.)

"Are we going to work on falling again or stretching?" Tsuna asked, changing the subject still pouting. Leora shook her head.

"No, you've actually gotten falling down surprisingly fast," she admitted – leaving out the part that he was so good at it because he fell all the damn time – and causing Tsuna to puff up with pride, "I was planning on something else today."

"It that why you're not speaking in Italian today?" Leora nodded.

"It's easier to explain it in Japanese. Your vocabulary is decent but it's still not that good yet."

"Oh." Drooping like a wilted flower, Tsuna followed Leora into the park to their usual practice spot, completely oblivious to the way all the kids there took one look at them and scattered. Leora felt the corners of her mouth twitch up slightly.

Kyouya, the blood-thirsty little maniac, was keeping his end of the deal up splendidly.

Leading Tsuna through a series of stretches – he was finally able to put his head against his knees even if he couldn't fold all the way in half yet – Leora wondered if she should be worried about her increasing levels of vindictiveness. Sure she had a small streak before, but nothing on this level.

Meh, it was probably just stress. God knows she had a lot of it. All the more reason to get her routine back to normal.

Dragging Tsuna over to the sandbox, Leora hopped onto the edge that couldn't be more than three centimeters wide.

"Today you're going to work on balance."

Tsuna's face told her exactly what he thought of that. Despair coupled with ' _are you serious_?' for the perfect blend of ' _fuck my life'_.

The following three hours were as exhausting as they were hilarious. Getting Tsuna to just stand on the improvised balance beam was a nightmare. He couldn't keep his head straight above his torso to save his life and he kept pin-wheeling his arms hard enough to knock his center of gravity off every single time.

"Ah fuck it, let's try something else." Hopping up with him Leora grabbed his flailing hands, "Stop moving,  _stop moving damnit!_  If you fall I'm going to catch you so stop tensing up, relax, and slowly face me." It took a few minutes, but finally Tsuna was facing her, one foot in front of the other on the thin ledge with his hands clutching at her wrists.

"Good. Now, start walking- no! Don't look down. Looking at your feet is a bad habit to have that'll throw off your balance. Head up, eyes on me, and walk. No rush, no worry, just one foot in front of the other. Now start."

It took another twenty minutes, but eventually Tsuna was walking at a steady – if slow – pace around the rim of the sandbox. It was almost stupidly easy to keep pace with him, even walking backwards like she was. It took another ten before he finally relaxed enough he wasn't throwing his own balance off too much. After one more lap Leora let go of his hands. Tsuna froze, body going rigid again but refrained from pin-wheeling his arms under Leora's stern look, and managed to keep from falling off though he wobbled dangerously.

"Keep your elbows tucked in, but spread your forearms and hands out for balance." She ordered. After copying her, Leora gave him a nod, "Now keep walking."

She kept her arms out, ready to catch him when he overbalanced – and he did a number of times – but he needed less and less help the more he circled the sand pit. She had to remind him a number of times to keep his eyes up – he switched from staring at his feet to her hands, like he needed the reassurance that his 'safety net' was still there – but he made progress.

Compared to what she was used to and capable of his balance sucked ass. Still, it was an improvement to his previous horse on roller skates impression. Stretching and falling practice were finally doing him some good.

Tsuna managed to make it two more laps before all his hard work went down the drain in a spray of sand and high pitched shrieking when Kyouya snuck up behind him and demanded Leora's attention.

Ignoring the Skylark completely, Leora began the now very familiar process of picking Tsuna up off the ground and dusting him off.

"Don't ignore me, herbivore."

"Stop throwing a mini temper-tantrum and I might." Leora called over her shoulder, still not making eye contact as she got Tsuna back on the ledge and walking. The brunet was a lot tenser than he should be, he kept stealing glances at Kyouya, but his eyes weren't on his feet so Leora didn't really care.

" _Herbivore._ "

"I don't deal with assholes, brat." Leora told him flatly, finally turning around to pin him with an unimpressed look before turning back to keep an eye on Tsuna, "And my name wasn't 'herbivore' last time I checked."

Kyouya response was to audibly grind his teeth. After another lap around the sand box the skylark let out an annoyed huff.

"Leora."

"Yes?"

"Fight me," Kyouya demanded.

"Your social skills suck, so no." Leora drawled back, "Besides, I fought you this morning. I have the bruised ribs to prove it."

"You  _what_?" Tsuna squawked, momentarily forgetting his fear and shooting glares at the older boy as he tried to get a closer look at Leora's ribs. He lost his balance spectacularly and ended up face planting into the sandbox.

"I'm  _fine_  Tsuna." Hopping off the edge of the sandbox because they obviously weren't going to be practicing anymore, Leora turned to fully face Kyouya, mouth turned down at the corners slightly because  _she had just calmed him down from earlier damnit_ and now he was going to be _clingy_ , and getting away from him before she somehow managed to get dragged back to the Sawada house was going to be a bitch and a half.

"I am teaching, you are interrupting, and I  _will not_  be fighting you again today. Go away."

In his normal very stubborn fashion, Kyouya ignored her – with a pout, he could deny it all he wanted but he was too young for a scowl to come across as anything else his reputation as a demon spawn be damned – as his grey eyes appraised Tsuna, who was climbing to his feet and spitting sand out of his mouth.

"What are you teaching the fluffy herbivore?"

Knowing full well that the brat wasn't going to leave unless she answered, and mildly amused the term 'fluffy' was tacked on to differentiate Tsuna from the rest of the general population, Leora gave in to the urge to roll her eyes.

"At the moment, balance. I thought that was kind of obvious."

Those grey eyes flicked to hers, "Why?"

"Because he needs a more stable foundation before I start on strength exercises and katas," Leora explained as she helped Tsuna dust off more sand despite his protests that he could do it himself, "They won't do him any good if he falls over every time he shifts his weight."

"Why are you teaching the fluffy herbivore to fight?" Kyouya questioned, though it was more of a demand.

"Because he attracts trouble like a fucking magnet and he has potential." Tsuna choose that moment to trip as he tried to get out of the sandbox and ate more dirt. Taking in Tsuna's fully sprawled out glory, Kyouya's face when he looked back to Leora was flat disbelief.

Leora shrugged.

"All baby animals start off clumsy. And not everyone grows into their fangs and claws as quickly or as independently as you did. The potential is there," thinking of the Tsunayoshi she saw in the manga and anime, orange flames and determination, Leora gave Kyouya a grin that was all teeth and smug precognition, "He needs a little more help than most, but when he grows into his own? He won't be at the bottom of the hierarchy anymore. He'll fly higher and burn brighter than anyone else and it will be  _glorious_."

Both Tsuna and Kyouya were looking at her with wide eyes, shock mingling with disbelief, anticipation, and a myriad of other emotions that Leora wasn't able to identify, most of which came from Tsuna.

Leora ignored it.

All of what she said was true. Even if she hadn't watched/read the story she could still see the potential. It was buried deep under the clumsiness and fear of the world, but it  _was_  there and could easily be seen if someone bothered to look. It would have happened whether Leora ended up in this place or not. Letting Kyouya know would just jump-start the bonding process… Hopefully.

At the very least it would get him interested enough that he'd stick around and get attached to the little Sky. It was a win-win situation that would get Leora one step closer to fulfilling her bargain with Tsuna and getting the hell out of Namimori.

"Now that it's established that I'm  _not going to fucking fight you again today_ ," Leora emphasized the last part, which Kyouya very grudgingly acknowledged, "either join in on the lesson or leave. We have enough to work on that we don't need interruptions."

Kyouya decided to stay for the last hour and a half they were at the park. Tsuna still wasn't comfortable around the older boy, but he didn't completely shut down like he did before. It helped that Kyouya was using another piece of playground equipment a sizeable distance away. Or it could have been Tsuna's renewed sense of determination to get the balancing down. Leora didn't know where it came from, but it got the job done and Tsuna was able to walk around the sandbox twice by himself, no steadying hands or pin-wheeling arms needed to stay upright.

Tsuna left the playground absolutely filthy, scraped, exhausted, and grinning ear to ear.

Kyouya left with a number of bruises and a new found hate for monkey bars.

* * *

Still seeking the elusive normalcy, Leora decided she had seen just about all she could see in her little spying escapade and promptly turned up at the strip joint  _Parallel_  bright and early at o-dark thirty in the morning with the rest of the strippers.

The girls were too bleary eyed and sleepy to notice as Leora walked in behind them. The bouncer noticed if the odd look he was giving her was anything to go by, but seemed to think she belonged to whichever one she was following like a duckling and let her on through with an awkward nod of the head.

The inside of the place wasn't that bad compared to some of the other places Leora had been in before. It was actually pretty nice. Shiny black tiles, grey leather seats and benches, and silver tables were scattered around the room with a clear view of the main stage at the far end, but still with plenty of room for individual poles to be set up here and there. More importantly, it was clean.

The majority of the girls shuffled their way to the stage, two of them breaking off for the set up in what looked the VIP lounge areas while a third made a beeline for the bar and the coffee maker that was tucked into a corner next to the bottles of vodka.

That looked like the good stuff too. Hmm.

Shaking her head to clear it of the daydream about spiked coffee, Leora went for the pole situated the farthest away from the stage. Happily chucking her child shoes to the ground Leora got to work.

She started by just climbing up and down the pole as fast as she could, getting used to how she could grip with her tiny hands and warming up. Holding herself out vertically to the pole came next, legs falling into a split as she used only her arms to keep herself up. Shifting brought one of her feet to the pole while the other stuck straight out behind her, a midair imitation of her split stretches. After that she just had fun.

She was gleefully spinning herself around the pole in one of her old routines when people started noticing she wasn't supposed to be there.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

And by people she meant the owner. He was surprisingly well dressed and awake for how early it was. Hooking a leg around the pole to secure her position Leora gave the man a wave.

"Hello again."

" _What do you think you're doing?!_ " Leora frowned.

She didn't understand why everyone kept asking her that. Personally, she thought it was rather obvious.

"I told you poles were fun."

"That doesn't explain why you're  _here_  at four in the morning!" Leora blinked.

"You said this was when your girls usually practiced." She reminded him, adjusting position again so she was hanging solely by her legs. The strippers had noticed her by this point – the owners shouting was kind of hard to miss – and a small crowd was gathering at the base of her pole. Leora shimmied up higher.

"That wasn't an open invitation!"

"It's not like we're open for business right now Sazama-san." The girl who went straight for the coffee pot pointed out, eyebrow arched dangerously, "More importantly, I would  _love_  to know what conversation you had with a kid that made her want to come here of all places, not to mention so goddamn early in the morning, without her parents? Anyone else interested?"

The now dubbed Sazama-san started sweating nervously as he was surrounded by a semi-circle of smiling, angry women, hair starting to stir ominously at the pissed off aura they were emitting. Squinting, Leora could almost see the  _gogogogogogo_  floating through the air above their heads.

Damn. And that was  _without_  Flames.

Deciding to throw the man a bone – for a strip club owner he was an actually decent person – and save him from the hoard of instinctual maternal anger threatening to kill him.

"I met him when I was checking out strip clubs. He was trying to get me to leave this part of town."

And just like that, the anger was gone, immediately replaced by happy smiles aimed Sazama's way for his common human decency. Sazama decided to make his escape while they weren't angry and readily distracted by their tiny visitor, retreating towards his office at a clipped pace. Leora could hear the door lock behind him.

Smart man.

Coffee pot girl frowned, "Why were you checking out strip clubs?"

"Family of acrobats," Leora replied, "Normal gyms don't have poles and it's usually cheaper to rent one from a strip club to practice on. This was the only decent place I could find."

Coffee pot girl didn't look convinced, "And your family just let you come her so early in the morning?"

"We're all up by now anyway. Gotta practice early so that the rest of the day can be productive." Leora explained, telling the truth but at the same time lying through her teeth. Either way that seemed to satisfy any pressing questions they had. The majority of the crowd went back to their own poles, content to know nothing amoral was happening to a child and not caring about much else, leaving only coffee pot girl behind.

Leora once again bemoaned/marveled anime obliviousness when it came to children doing weird things.

"My name is Nishida Kanna," coffee pot girl offered after a few minutes of just watching Leora finish out the routine she was working on. Cocking her head to the side, she couldn't quite hid the calculating glint in her eye.

"Would you mind going through that routine again? A bit slower maybe? I'll buy you breakfast later after practice."

Obligingly, Leora started from the top.

She was planning on going over it again anyway, might as well get free food out of it.

* * *

Breakfast was onigiri from the nearby convenience store and some kind of drink from a vending machine that Leora was pretty sure was tea. With all the sugar and milk in it, it was kind of hard to tell.

Not that she was complaining. It was free after all.

Nishida – call me Kanna – was seated next to the carney on a bench, munching her way through her own onigiri.

She didn't try to talk, make eye contact or anything. Just focused on eating. Leora thought it was great.

Early riser she might be, but she was not a morning person. At all.

They sat in silence for a few more minutes, finishing their food and just enjoying the quiet. Then Kanna had to ruin it be asking about the current bane of her existence.

"Shouldn't you be in school right now?"

"Homeschooled."

The conversation came to a screeching halt after that for another fifteen minutes while they finished off their drinks and Kanna got up to get another. The silence was awkward. Leora ignored it easily enough but Kanna fidgeted and kept sneaking glances at her from the corner of her eye.

"Do you have any more routines like the one you practiced today?" the physically older woman asked eventually, tossing her empty can in a nearby trash bin.

"A few." Leora conceded, taking another sip of her too sweet drink, "Why?"

"Would you be willing to teach them to me?"

Leora's response was a flat look.

She was already teaching one person, two if you counted Kyouya who started showing up at the park when Tsuna was practicing. She didn't even really want to teach them. Why the fuck would she teach some random stripper how to pole dance?

"Look, your routines are a lot better than what I can come up with." Kanna tried to explain. Leora wasn't impresses.

"I'll pay you?" she offered tentatively, "The better I am the more tips I'll make."

Tilting her head Leora considered it.

"How much?"

"¥2500 a week?"

Doing a mental calculation Leora came up with roughly twenty two dollars USD. Leora scowled.

"Fuck no, I'm not an idiot. Why would I waste my time on chump change?"

"Look, that's all I can spare right now," Kanna defended, "College tuition isn't cheap and neither is an apartment. When I start making more I'll pay you more, okay? But I got to learn a better routine first. Yours is great and I can modify it after you teach me for work."

Throwing away her trash Leora was fully intent on telling Kanna to fuck off, before she thought it over a little more and a thought struck.

Here was a  _legal_  adult who, if she accepted, would owe her money. Barely, but it was still enough to cover her landlady's monthly requirements.

Turning around, Leora pasted her best 'for the crowd' smile  _Amma_  Eva had made her practice for over a week in front of a mirror.

"If you buy two bottles of sake once a month in lieu of paying me we have a deal."

"Wha-  _sake_? Why would you want  _sake_?" Kanna sputtered incredulously. Leora shrugged.

"Land lady agreed to make the rent cheaper if I enabled her drinking habits. It's kind of hard to get it myself without someone calling the cops."

Kanna didn't look happy – or maybe that was contemplative? She said her own rent wasn't cheap. Maybe her landlord was as much of an ass as her own – but eventually nodded.

Agreeing to meet at the club again tomorrow morning, Kanna went to class and Leora headed back to her apartment.

She was making deals left and right, she mused, locking her door. Drawing a bath, heating water on the stove so the water would actually be hot.

So, did that make her the devil or the fool?


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

* * *

 

_And just when I thought things were starting to get better, everything had to go wrong again._

_-Rachel Ward_

* * *

 

After much more bitching and not at all subtle hinting from the two kids she was grudgingly keeping company with, Leora caved enough to compromise.

Instead of actually attending school she just had to walk them to their mandatory education and then pick them up after.

After giving pole lessons in the morning, the fights with Kyouya that followed went from sparing in one place to drawn out violent game of tag mixed with hide-n-seek that usually ended with the both of them near enough to the school that the Skylark was able to be camped outside the front gate in all his coming-down-from-a-battle-high glory by the time the first student started arriving. Trying to keep it more contained to one place resulted in a _very_ grumpy Cloud and more bruises for Leora.

If she tilted her head and squinted, Leora could kind of see why he got annoyed. It was less challenging, and the brat likened it to hunting. Personally, she likened it more to the capture the flag games from the Percy Jackson series, which actually ended up being a good idea once she ran it past Kyouya.

Tsuna, when he found out, somehow took it to mean she was walking _with_ Hibari to school in the morning and insisted on joining in, even _after_ the first time Kyouya decided he was as much fair game as Leora was and started going after him too.

Leora _might_ have instigated that by tossing the red bandanna they were using as the flag at him and yelling at him to run.

There had been much screaming and running and numerous visits to the nurse’s office and Saito-sensei – the old man was _not_ impressed – but Tsuna stubbornly persisted to drag his ass out of bed and meet them at the park because ‘ _I want to walk to school with you, too_ ’.

Surprising, but Leora could work with that. The brat had basically quadrupled his stamina and speed in two weeks, and he was up to par enough that she was able to start him on the heavily reduced version of her workout. Physically, he was now towards the higher end of average.

An added bonus was that Tsuna got less and less afraid of Kyouya. Still terrified of his tonfa, but Kyouya as a person not so much.

Kyouya’s face the first time Tsuna had asked both Leora _and_ the older boy over for snacks after school had been the best example of a poleaxed expression Leora had seen in a while. (Both had declined, obviously: Leora because Nana was crazy and Kyouya because his social skills sucked and he had no idea what to do with the offer.)

It was a work in progress.

Picking them up from school had mostly been Leora’s attempt at better time management. They could go straight to the park and get more done for the day. After that first balance lesson Kyouya had tagged along to prove that he could do the same things Leora could, to her never ending amusement.

Ah, spite. What a great motivation ye are.

She also liked to think Kyouya was warming up to Tsuna as well as and wanted to spend time with him.

Leora didn’t mind the compromise too much. It gave her day more structure than she had before and it was doing a minor miracle for her sense of stability. So here she was at three thirty, standing outside the gates with the perfect view of Tsuna hurrying towards her, clothes a mess and the bruised imprint of someone’s knuckles on his cheek.

“Sorry I’m late?” Tsuna offered weakly when he noticed Leora’s intense stare zeroed in on his face.

“ _Didn’t Kyouya take care of everyone beating you up_?” she asked mildly.

“He did.” Tsuna agreed, face morphing into a genuine smile at the mention of his change in school life. Leora arched an eyebrow.

“I didn’t get beat up.” Tsuna insisted, straightening his clothes. He repeated himself in Italian when Leora’s mouth quirked in annoyance.

“ _I didn’t,_ ” he muttered, voice barely stumbling over the words. All the effort Tsuna had been putting into learning Italian was paying off and in the seven months since he started he was pretty much fluent. A few words escaped him, and his writing needed a lot of work to be legible, but he had actually done it. He only had to sacrifice his normal school grades. When Leora had found out he went from making fifteens and twenties to zeros on everything it hadn’t been pretty.

Tsuna now had a lot more motivation to put towards school and he could now do splits both ways.

“ _You’re a mess._ ” Leora pointed out.

“ _I fell down the stairs._ ”

“ _Someone’s fist is imprinted on your face._ ”

“ _I might have had some help down the stairs._ ” Tsuna admitted sheepishly, tentatively touching the bruise, “ _It’s fine. I didn’t actually fall until I was near the bottom_ and _I was able to roll when I landed.”_ He told her proudly. “ _I was gone before they could follow me down.”_

Which was impressive considering where he started, Leora had to admit. Still…

 _“Does Kyouya know?_ ” the boys’ face fell into a grimace.

“ _Hibari-san was…disciplining… them when I made it out of the building.”_

Leora hummed, sticking her head back through the gates in an attempt to see something. “ _Did you ask him if he wanted us to wait?”_

 _”No._ ” Tsuna answered flatly, shuddering at the thought, “ _I’m not going back to ask, either.”_

Leora shrugged, “ _He can just meet us at the park then. Stairs aside, how was school?”_

_“Not bad. I managed to make a sixty eight on my math test. For once I wasn’t the dead last.”_

_“See what happens when you put in more effort?”_ Leora teased.

 _“I hate math.”_ Tsuna muttered grouchily, shoving his hands in the pockets of his jacket. October had rolled around. It wasn’t cold yet, the weather was actually really nice right now, but it was going to start getting colder soon.

Shifting the weight of her backpack, Leora decided she should go ahead and start saving up for a heater. She was still wearing Tsuna’s borrowed summer clothes, so maybe a new shirt or pants that she could get for cheap wouldn’t be remiss either.

People had started wising up to the face there was a pickpocket in Namimori and were being more careful with their wallets. Money was a lot tighter than it was in the summer. Add in the fact that her apartment didn’t have heat _at all_ and she was going to be freezing her ass off almost every night once the seasons changed. The blankets she’s started hoarding would only do so much.

Winter was going to be a fucking nightmare.

Arriving at the park they dumped their belongings at the base of a tree – Leora’s tree – before starting to stretch.

Tsuna had had the good sense to change out of his uniform before leaving the school this time, so he was dressed in his favorite black sweat pants and orange T-shirt. By some miracle he’d managed to scrape back some of his gravity defying hair with a headband so it wouldn’t flop in his face.

 _“So… are you going to be busy next week on Saturday?_ ” Tsuna asked about halfway through his stretch. “ _Mama’s planning a big dinner, and I already invited Hibari-san.”_

Pausing in the process of putting her feet behind her head Leora gave him a suspicious look.

“ _This isn’t another of Nana’s attempts to meet my parents, is it? Being held hostage last time wasn’t exactly pleasant.”_

 _“You weren’t held hostage.”_ Tsuna argued, though he didn’t look like he believed it himself, “ _She just wanted you to be safe going home.”_

 _“She wouldn’t let me leave until someone came to get me or I let her walk me home,”_ Leora deadpanned, _“I was trapped in your house for_ three days _before I managed to escape.”_

 _“Why didn’t you just let us walk you home?”_ Tsuna countered, “ _That would’ve been a lot easier.”_

 _“Shift your weight,”_ Leora ordered bluntly changing the subject, _“You’re stretching wrong.”_

Grumbling, he did as he was told. Glancing at the carney through his arms, eyes going impossibly wide and shiny, Tsuna tried again, “ _So… you can come?”_ he asked hopefully, puppy eyes begging her to crumple like wet tissue and say yes.

“ _No.”_

Shifting so she was balanced on her forearms Leora let her legs fall apart so she had a foot touching the ground in front of and behind her. Lacking the upper body strength Tsuna settled for the more normal splits.

“ _Please?”_

 _“No.”_ Shifting her weight to one arm Leora stuck the other one out behind her as she balanced on one hand, legs curled up to touch her head.

“ _For my birthday?”_ Tsuna wheedled. Jerking in surprise, Leora lost her balance and fell on her face.

“ _For your_ what _?”_

“ _My birthday._ ” Tsuna repeated excitedly, if still somewhat shyly, “ _October fourteenth. Mama’s going to make a lot more food and a cake for a party. I already invited Hibari-san. He bite me to death for bothering him during lunch, but he did say yes!”_

Tsuna kept rambling on, but Leora didn’t register what he was saying.

All she could think about was…birthday. It was almost his birthday. Another year closer to the plot, to Reborn, to the _mafia_. Digging her hands into the ground Leora tried to control her breathing.

She didn’t need this reminder. Didn’t need the time clock thrown in her face to taunt her when it was always at the forefront of her mind. Every day Tsuna went to school, every hour spent trying to build him up just that little bit more so she could leave was a reminder she was running out of time. She didn’t want to fucking _celebrate_ it.

Tsuna had straightened up sometime during his babbling, sitting cross-legged with his hand clasped around his ankles, positively beaming at the carney he was so excited. _Genuinely_ excited, face lighting up at the thought that the two people he hung out with the most would be celebrating his birthday with him.

It wasn’t hard to guess that this birthday would have a lot of firsts for him to experience.

Leora couldn’t do this. She really couldn’t do this. The carney had enough anxiety and stress that she was barely able to vent enough to function normally. She didn’t sleep more than a few hours, she forgot to eat half the time and she was only barely managing to keep herself alive. She couldn’t deal with Nana, couldn’t deal with getting treated like a kid, not on his birthday.

So Leora opened her mouth to tell him no, sorry can’t do it. To make up an excuse that would disappoint the baby Sky but he could deal with it because she wasn’t going to, “ _Alright.”_

Wheezing, Leora nearly choked on her tongue.

 _Goddamn it_ , that wasn’t what she meant to say!

Tsuna lit up like the sun, laughing as he tackled Leora to the ground in a hug, effectively knocking her out of the building panic attack.

Twitching at the unexpected contact, Leora forced herself to relax, patting the boy awkwardly on the back.

Alright, now she had to do this. Maybe she could do this. She _really_ didn’t want to do this.

She could at least try for Tsuna’s sake. With all the shit in his future she supposed the boy deserved that much.

* * *

 

The week had gone by in a flash and Leora was once again standing in front of the Sawada house staring at the gate like it would bite her.

Leora had managed to fully calm down about an hour after Tsuna had left to go home and admitted to herself that it was stupid to freak out over a little kids birthday party. Her brain was being stupid and she needed to calm the fuck down. It took chugging one of her landlady’s sake bottles to happen, but she was calm and left with an entirely new problem.

What the hell do you get a kid for their birthday?

Leora’s go to present was usually booze. It didn’t take a genius to know she couldn’t give Tsuna that.

Wracking her brain to remember what kind of presents she’d gotten as a kid hadn’t helped any; small wooden hand axes and knives, Chinese yoyos, a bag of knucklebones, yarn dolls, marbles, and a stuffed Egyptian vulture she fondly recalled naming Tota were all she could come up with, none of which were things she could easily find in Namimori. She’d found a lot yarn, but she doubted Tsuna would want a doll of all things.

The shopping center was a better bet. There were shops with nothing but toys that were colorful and likely to grab a little kids’ attention, but they were all _way_ out of her price range even if she had a clue what kind of things Tsuna liked. Video games were out too.

Out of ideas and out of time, Leora just took the braided rope bracelet she’d had shoved in the pockets of her jeans when she fell through the tent and washed it. The hemp wasn’t that frayed and the black beads woven in didn’t look too girly so Leora considered it decent enough to re-gift.

Now she just needed to give it to the boy. Which required going into his house.

She was working up to it.

Nana solved that issue by sticking her head out and locking eyes with the carney. With sparkling smiles and an unholy glint in her eyes the housewife ushered Leora into the living room, tittering all the while about _how good it was so see her again_ , _you should come by more often Leora-chan, Tsu-kun missed you soo much_.

Biding a hasty goodbye Leora bolted up the stairs to Tsuna’s room, slamming the door shut behind her and plastering herself against the wooden frame.

“Leora?” Sitting cross-legged at the table and hunched over his Italian journal Tsuna gave her a puzzled look. That didn’t stop him from getting up to hug the Italian, a habit that he’d gotten into after that first impromptu balance beam lesson she’d given at the park.  Leora didn’t have a clue why he started hugging her. She hadn’t found a way to get him to stop either.

“Your mother found me.”

“She’s just excited. You haven’t been over in a while. C’mon!” Grinning childishly he pulled her over to his previous spot so she could look over his entry for the day. “We need to hurry. Hibari-san is supposed to be here soon and Mama’s almost done with the food.”

“I’m hurrying, I’m hurrying,” a quick cursory glance showed semi-descent cursive handwriting and only one or two mistakes, “Looks good to me. Nice job brat.” Giving an approving nod had Tsuna’s smile racking up a notch, “We could start on English next if you want.”

“Yes!” With a whoop of accomplishment Tsuna threw himself at the carney, who only realized a split second before what he was planning and scrambled backwards.

“You already hugged me today. I don’t need another one.”

“Yes, you do.” Tsuna argued as he chased her around the room, grinning like an imp, “You deserve _all_ the hugs.”

“ _No_.” Vaulting over the table, Leora jumped up onto the bed, using it as a springboard to jump over Tsuna’s head before tripping over a pile of dirty laundry and crashing to the floor. Taking advantage of the situation Tsuna pounced on her, laughing as it turned into a wrestling match.

“Damn you Tsuna, how many times have I told you to clean your fucking room?” Managing to keep a grip on one of his wrists and holding it well away from her person Leora brought up a knee to force some space between them when Tsuna tried to hook his free arm around her waist for a one arm hug.

“About every other day.” Unable to reach around her, Tsuna settled for tickling her sides. Yelping, the carney fully kicked him away only to have him latch onto her legs as she tried to crawl out of reach.

“Come on Leora, it’s just a hug. You know you want one.” he whined pitifully, batting his watering eyes that she knew were fake. She taught him how to do that two weeks into knowing him. Arms free, Leora grabbed one of the cushions around the table and smacked him repeatedly in the face.

“For the last time, no. Now _let go_. When the hell did you turn into a little shit? When I met you, you were shy and afraid of everything, _including me_. You never hugged me.”

“I hugged you when I first met you.” Tsuna protested as he tried to protect his face with one arm.

“Cowering is very different from hugging, brat.” Tsuna scowled, cheeks turning red at the reminder of the first chihuahua incident.

“I hugged you when you’d catch me from falling and when I got out of the hospital,” Tsuna amended, “And I don’t have to be shy around you because you’re my friend. You’re not scary.”

“Wanna bet?”

“Tsu-kun~” Nana interrupted, sticking her head in the door and grinning gleefully, “the rest of your friends is here! Come down stairs and say hello!” Leora visibly perked up.

“Yes! Down stairs. That means _let me go_.” Sulking, Tsuna did. Putting a healthy distance between them, Leora beckoned Tsuna to go first.

“Why do you keep hugging me?” She grouched as they followed Nana down the stairs. Tsuna blinked back at her, confused.

“Because you’re my friend.”

Leora knew friendship was a Big Deal to Tsuna, the anime and manga made that pretty clear, but Leora didn’t see how that equaled spontaneous hugging. Weren’t Asians supposed to be big on personal space?

Following everyone into the living room Leora finally saw Kyouya, dressed in a dark blue yukata almost identical to the man standing next to him.

Grey eyes, annoyed disinterest, aura that reminded her of a bid cat, yeah that had to be Kyouya’s father.

But if his father was here then that meant…

“I put the mochi on the table, Nana.” Mingxia announced cheerfully as she walked out of the kitchen, decked out in a flower patterned yukata that matched the men. “Oh! Hello Leora-chan. I haven’t seen you since school started!”

Motherfucker.

* * *

 

As a whole, Leora guessed that the birthday party wasn’t too bad.

Introductions were terrifying; she’d ended up in a starting contest with Kyouya’s father, Ryouta, who seemed more interested and less indifferent the longer she kept eye contact. Dry, burning eyes had eventually forced her to blink. Ryouta had actually looked pleased. The older Hibari had look significantly less impressed with Tsuna’s quaking knees and big eyes, but he did keep eye contact for almost a minute which seemed to satisfy the Hibari patriarch, giving Kyouya a nod which Leora couldn’t make heads or tails of but the boy seemed to understand, puffing up like a half-grown raptor.

The games Nana provided were classic board games, but with who was providing and playing them they turned out… interesting.

* * *

 

“Why are we playing a game about going to school?” Leora asked, eye twitching slightly as she stared at the Jinsei game board spread out in front of her.

Nana, smile already radiating sweetness and flowers and air-headedness, closed her eyes and tilted her head to the side, flowers popping into existence while Mingxia leaned over to give her own kind closed eye smile, making the carney break out in a cold sweat.

“Because it’s fun.” They said in unison.

Leora shut up and spun the wheel.

* * *

 

“Hibari-san…you can’t just ‘bite the panda to death’,” Tsuna pointed out hesitantly while Kyouya glared daggers at the board, “That’s not how you play Takenoko…You can’t bite the farmer to death either, Hibari-san.”

* * *

 

“Seriously, what is with everyone’s obsession with schools?” Leora demanded when Kyouya once again tried to get the deed to Namimori Middle School and failed.

Namimori Zaibatsu was a truly monstrous board game that was basically monopoly with more rules. It involved a miniature model of the town, down to street signs, shops, and districts, played with miniature deeds to the businesses and ‘play’ money Mingxia had provided out of a suspicious looking brief case that Leora was pretty sure had blood stains on it.

The game was apparently custom made and the money had been provided by the local police department, which Kyouya’s father was in charge of.

Nana was delighted. Leora and Tsuna didn’t want to know.

For the last hour Kyouya, Leora, and Tsuna had slowly been conquering the board. Tsuna had horrible luck with the dice, but somehow managed to get the deeds to most department stores and a few cake shops and cafés. Leora ended up with the warehouse districts, bars, and pachinko parlors since those where the places she was more familiar with and the odd bank or two. Kyouya had gone after the schools with all the tenacity of a bulldog, and had acquired all but one which Leora acquired by a bad roll.

Kyouya wasn’t taking his inability to assert dominance over the education system very well.

His mother whipping a camera out of her sleeve and rapidly snapping pictures throughout the party wasn’t helping.

“Give up the school, herbivore.” Kyouya growled, eyes burning holes into the carney’s skull.

“Hell no. I’m planning on burning the place in effigy.”

“It’s _mine_.”

“I have a deed that says otherwise.” Waving the tiny piece of paper in the air for emphasis Leora handed the dice off to Tsuna, who ended with a perfect roll and won Namimori Middle School instead of the ice cream place he was aiming for.

“ _Are you fucking kidding me?!_ ” Leora exclaimed incredulously in Italian. Tsuna squeaked in fear, taking the deed with trembling hands and placing it in the pile with the rest, shoving the whole thing out of Kyouya’s sight.

That was the last straw for Kyouya. Taking out his tonfas he went for Tsuna’s head, snarling like a rabid animal. With a screech Tsuna dove for the floor, just barely managing to miss getting brained as Kyouya slammed into the back of the chair and tumbled to the ground. The back of the chair broke in half.

Everything descended into chaos after that; furniture overturned, board game pieces set flying, high pitched screaming and snarls of frustrations and fury as the two boys used the basic acrobatics Leora had taught them to move around any and all obstacles, while Mingxia was in the background making a very animated phone call in Mandarin, having handed her camera off to Nana who was snapping away with delight.

“ _Big brother, big brother! Kyouya’s actually playing with his friends! I know I already told you about them, but one of them is having a birthday party today and invited Kyouya. He’s been playing games and having fun and right now they’re chasing each other around and he’s having fun!”_ She gushed into the phone, “ _I’ve been taking pictures so you wouldn’t miss too much of it and I’ll send them to you tonight. They’re adorable, Big brother!”_

Ryouta just kept drinking his tea at the kitchen table, apparently used to his wife and son’s antics, amusement blatant on his face.

Thumping her head against the wall, Leora did her best to ignore all of them.

* * *

 

Mess cleaned up and everyone relatively unscathed, Nana herded everyone into the kitchen for tea, presents, and to blow out the nine candles she had artfully placed upon the top of the tooth achingly sweet robot shaped cake.

The carney had blanked out for a minute once she counted the candles.

Leora had thought Tsuna was _already_ ten when she first met him, or at least close enough to it.

She had about three years instead of one and a half, maybe two she’d originally estimated.

In her defense, Tsuna had pretty much been a midget in the series and she had been more focused on her own physical age since ending up in this world to pay much attention to his. Who he was going to be and who he currently was tended to overlap a bit in her head.

Tuning back into her surroundings Leora was just in time to see Tsuna open Kyouya’s present and take out a pair of child size knuckled busters, which no one seemed to find an issue with except Tsuna.

Giving Kyouya a rickety smile and a thank you, Tsuna shoved them in his pockets and did his best to pretend they weren’t there. Kyouya gave a satisfied huff before looking at Leora, daring her to one up his gift.

Wordlessly she took the bracelet out of her pocket and handed it over.

The thank you Tsuna gave her was noticeably more cheerful.

* * *

 

It was a little after eight when things finally settled down enough for everyone to leave. Mingxia insisted on walking Leora home for the night which Leora did her best to turn down. There was much arguing and insisting and trying to make a run for it only to be caught before Ryouta had enough, picking the carney up and tucking her under an arm like a bag of rice, very firmly telling his wife they would walk the girl to her neighborhood and nothing more.

Mingxia pouted.

Seeing one last chance to spend time with his friends on his birthday Tsuna volunteered to walk with them. Nana wanted to stay and clean up a little better – the house was already fucking spotless after the brawl, Leora had no idea how she managed to do that – which Mingxia took ruthless advantage of by insisting Tsuna spend the night at their house.

A few more minutes of hashing out details and Nana producing a fully packed bag with everything Tsuna might need for the night – they planned this, there was no way in hell that they didn’t plan this – and they were finally on their way to Leora’s non-existent apartment on the other side of town from where the carney actually lived.

Leora knew where other apartment complexes were that had actual lobbies you had to walk into from her nightly roof hopping. She could walk in and hide for a few minutes, maybe bribe the person working the front desk, before heading back to her personal shoe box for the night.

Ryouta knew she was lying by the look he gave her, but didn’t care enough to call her out on it. He just dumped her on the ground and kept walking in the direction she indicated.

Small mercies.

Tsuna was quick to situate himself to her left, hand wrapping around her slightly smaller one instead of taking his usual grip on her shirt. He looked really pale and nervous, which Leora chalked up to the impromptu sleep over he was going to. Leora didn’t think he’d ever been to one.

After a moment Kyouya put himself on her right. Far enough away that he wasn’t part of the ‘crowding’ but close enough that he was obviously walking with them.

Leora didn’t bother fighting the grin that spread across her face. Her plan was working.

In hindsight, it probably wasn’t smart to let the adults get so far ahead of the three of them. Ryouta would most likely have been able to do _something_. As it was he wasn’t close enough to do jack shit as a black van came screeching up the road, barely slowing down enough to let two black clad _ninjas_ open the side door to throw a net around the three kids and pull them into the car.

Slamming into the side of the van in a tangle of limbs, Leora barely took in her surroundings before one of the ninja moved in and the world exploded into _painpainpain_.

She was unconscious before her head hit the floor board.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

* * *

 

_Wretched are those who are vindictive and spiteful._

_-Pope Francis_

* * *

 

The first time Leora regained consciousness she didn't really take note of her surroundings. Her mind was still very firmly in the ' _what the fuck?'_  frame set from the initial abduction by ninjas – ninjas?  _N_ _injas?_ What the  _hell_  was this shit, Mortal Combat _? –_ of all things that she didn't get more than a brief glimpse of the interior of a van, Tsuna and Kyouya sprawled out unconscious next to her, and black masks before a sharp pain exploded in the back of her head and she was slumping unconscious again.

* * *

 

The second time Leora regained consciousness she managed to be more aware and noted the ropes tied around her hands and feet. They were kind of hard to miss with how painfully they were biting into her skin.

Running her tongue over her teeth, the carney noted the metallic taste of blood and sharp pain from the split in her cheek. Her mouth felt like it had been filled with sand and left that way for several hours.

Ignoring those for now, Leora examined what she was pretty sure was the inside of a wooden crate with holes drilled into the top to allow air and just a few slivers of light through.

Tsuna and Kyouya where still crammed in with her, haphazardly thrown over one another in the small space between her and one of the crate walls. Both boys had massive bruises spreading across one side of their faces that probably matched the one she could feel throbbing away on her own.

Kyouya had dried blood around his mouth and on his chin from a split lip. Tsuna had dried tear tracks on his cheeks.

Narrowing her eyes, Leora could feel her lip curl at the sight, displeasure and annoyance twisting in her stomach and working its way up to her chest to sit behind her sternum.

They were kidnapped, tied up, shoved in a box for who knows how long, and injured. Tsuna was finally fully recovered from his concussion, and now likely had another one.

This was unacceptable.

Shifting so her neck and back weren't tilted at such a painful angle, Leora could feel the harness of throwing knives she half-remembered strapping on before going to Tsuna's house dig into her ribs.

The morons hadn't even searched her.

Weren't these people supposed to be professionals? White van kidnapping in front of the parents, not separating the prisoners or searching them, and tying them up with their hands  _in front_  of them seemed amateurish. Or at the very least sloppy.

Not that Leora was complaining, per se, but this world was supposed to have a 'super-secret' underworld. You'd think they would be better at stuff like this, especially when some of the kids can light themselves on fucking  _fire_.

Whatever. It'd just make it easier to get away.

She'd have to wait for Tsuna and Kyouya to wake up first. She was nowhere near big enough to be able to carry their unconscious asses anywhere. Plus, it would be easier to have Kyouya get out one of her knives than it would be if she tried to manipulate her bound hands into the right position to get it herself.

Shifting again, Leora barely had enough time to sit up before she heard muffled voices outside of the crate and the lid was ripped off. Blinded by the flashlight burning a hole through her retinas, Leora barely reacted when someone sneered something in Mandarin and yanked her up by the collar of her shirt.

She drooped like a puppet with its strings cut as the flashlight was smashed into the side of her head.

* * *

 

The third time Leora regained consciousness the annoyance and displeasure ratcheted up to borderline pissed.

What the  _fuck_  was with everyone hitting her in the head? She was  _tiny_. A concussion was the last fucking thing she needed.

Rolling onto her side so she could prop herself up into a semi-upright position, the carney resolved to stab the next jackass that grabbed her. Probably in the groin, because she was again,  _fucking tiny_ , and that was as high as she could effectively reach on a person the way she was right now without having to jump.

None of these asshats deserved to reproduce anyway.

They weren't in a crate anymore, she noted, head swiveling around slowly, very aware of the crick in her neck from lying in awkward angles for extended periods of time and the throbbing in her temples.

It looked like a prison cell; single cement block room you could barely swing a dead cat in, toilet situated in the corner with a sink, metal door on one wall with no door handle but a very obvious dead-bolt lock that was probably meant to be intimidating, and to top it all off one naked lightbulb that flickered occasionally.

The ninja kidnappers apparently had a flare for dramatics. Great.

The boys were sprawled out just behind her, new bruises and scrapes decorating their faces and arms since the last time she saw them. Scooting over as best she could, completely ignoring the blood that started seeping from around the ropes on her wrists and ankles, Leora started to shake them.

It took nearly twenty minutes, but finally they started coming to.

Kyouya managed to crack his eyes open first, barely slits with how swollen they were. It took him longer to focus on his surrounding than it did for Leora, but she could tell the exact moment that everything clicked as the memories fell into place by the way his face morphed into a scowl.

Leaving him to lever himself upright on his own, Leora focused solely on shaking Tsuna awake.

It only took a few more minutes to rouse him.

It took all of ten seconds for Tsuna to start bawling his eyes out once he remembered where he was and why his face hurt so much.

Leora froze as Tsuna curled in on himself, clutching at her shirt as best he could with his bound hands and crying into her hip, great heaving sobs that had his little chest heaving in painful jerks.

Hesitantly using her bound hands to stroke his back only made him cry harder. Snatching her hands away like they were burned, Leora turned a wide-eyed look to Kyouya, praying that he would have  _some_  kind of idea or hint of what she should do to comfort an obviously terrified Tsuna.

The skylark only spared the scene a passing glance, annoyance in what she could see of his eyes before going back to his attempt to chew his way through the ropes around his wrists.

Of course he wasn't going to help. What the fuck was she thinking, trying to ask him about basic social cues? If he saw anyone around his age crying like this he was probably the one to cause it.

Completely dismissing the skylark Leora desperately wracked her brain for what to do. Patting his back was out. That was awkward and hadn't helped with anything, so what else could she do? No bed meant no blankets to wrap him in, so that was out. There weren't any stuffed animals or hot drinks she could make him hold, either. There wasn't anything she could use in the room so what could she…

Hugs. Tsuna like hugs. He gave them all the time when he could get away with it and snuck them in when he couldn't, so maybe that would work? He always smiled after hugs, so maybe?

Carefully threading her arms around his head and shoulders, Leora leaned in a bit to put a little weight on his back in a bastardized version of his normal hugs, not able to even try the real thing with the position he had tucked himself into.

He tensed for a moment, making Leora think that she had done it wrong and start to pull away, before Tsuna launched himself up. Smashing into her chin, Tsuna didn't hesitate to firmly tuck himself into the crook of her neck, hands gripping at the fabric at her chest instead of her hip and forcing her arms to bend at an angle that had the ropes biting even farther into her skin as he settled himself securely against her shoulder to keep crying.

Okay…oww. Mother of fuck, that  _hurt_.

Wincing, Leora inspected the newly bleeding trenches her teeth had dug into her lip and tongue from getting head-butted as best she could before just giving up. She didn't even try to look at her wrists.

At least Tsuna wasn't full out sobbing anymore. He was still crying, but it was more of a quiet whimpering.

That was more normal. She could deal with that better than hysterically traumatized. Quieter meant he was calming down… hopefully.

She honestly had no idea.

Shit, she hoped he wasn't broken.

* * *

 

She had no idea how long it actually took Tsuna to calm down, but it felt like hours before he went quiet and just kind of trembled.

Finally,  _finally_ , allowing herself to move for the first time since he grabbed her, she threaded her fingers through his hair as best she could a few times, half remembering him leaning into Nana's touch when she did the same, wondering if he'd fallen asleep. She wouldn't really blame him, but it would make things that much harder.

Shifting, fists tightening around her shirt, and a whine proved he hadn't.

Okay. Mental breakdown over with.  _Thank god_. Time to get their shit together.

"Tsuna?" Making her voice as low and soothing as possible, Leora carded her fingers through his hair again. "Tsuna, look at me."

Agonizingly slow, like hit joints were made of molasses in winter, the little Sky eased his face from where he'd firmly planted it in the crook of her neck, shifting only far enough that he was tucked up against her chest so that she had to crane her head to look at him. Scared, bloodshot brown looked back.

"I need you to let me go."

Tsuna, predictably, did not like that.

His already impossible large eyes got even wider, taking up most of his face. A sound of distress Leora had only ever heard injured animals make clawed its way out of his throat as he managed to clutch her shirt even tighter, something she had thought impossible, as he started working himself up for another full blown panic attack.

For lack of anything better to do, Leora used her bound hands to smack him across the back of the head.

"Calm down and breath," she ordered, ignoring the way he flinched at the contact, voice and eyes firm and brooking no argument, "I'm not going to disappear the second you let me go, Tsuna. But we need to figure a way out of here, and we can't do that when you're stuck to me like a leech."

Running her fingers through his hair to take the edge off the flat detachment she knew her face and voice had fallen into in response the onslaught of emotions, she continued, "I know that this is scary and it hurts, but you need to push all of that aside and bottle it up so you can  _think_. If we want to get away, to not get hurt anymore, and  _stay that way_ , we can't cry and cower and cling. Not until it's  _safe_." She emphasized the word, trying to make the child understand just how important this was, "So I need you to be brave, at least for a little while  _passerotto_. Can you do that?"

Slowly, ever so slowly, Tsuna pulled a few ragged breaths, then nodded. Forcing his fingers to let go of her shirt took longer, but once done Tsuna willingly inched his way so he was seated on the floor next to the carney instead of on her.

Leora let a ghost of a smile cross her face.

Tsuna was obviously still scared out of his little mind, but his jaw was set and a determined glint in his eye stood out from the trembling.

For now, that would do.

Cutting her eyes back to Kyouya, the carney couldn't help but grimace at the fresh blood trickling from his mouth and wrists where he was still trying his best to chew through the ropes.

At the rate they were going, the lot of them might just die from infection before whomever kidnapped them got around to killing them. The rope tying them up did not look clean. At all.

"Stop ruining your mouth. That's obviously not going to work." Kyouya bared bloody teeth at her.

"Do you have a better idea?"

"I have a knife," she said flatly, causing Kyouya to blink in surprise, "now get over here and grab it for me so we can get these off."

Getting himself into a better position next to the carney Leora gestured as best she could to her torso.

"Strapped on under my shirt."

Seeing the holster strapped around her middle didn't earn more than a grunt of approval. Not even Tsuna questioned it, just sagged a bit in relief that they could get the ropes off. The velcro strapping down the hilts gave him some trouble, but eventually Kyouya managed to get two free. Handing one to Leora he got to work on sawing away at the ropes on his ankles. Gripping the hilt of her own knife between her knees, Leora set to work on the ropes around her wrists.

Sighing when the ropes fell away, Leora decided to ignore the ones around her ankles for now and beckoned Tsuna closer. He barely hesitated before holding out his hands.

Sharp as the knives were the ropes didn't last long, leaving them with bruised and bloody abrasions.

Sighing again, this time in irritation, Leora took off her shirt, thankful she had managed to find and put on an undershirt before this happened, and started tearing it into strips they could use in lieu of bandages to keep anything too bad from getting into the wounds.

Tucking the knives back where they belonged, Leora had to fight back a shiver.

The air was chilly.

Free and bandaged up as well as a couple of kids could manage with torn fabric, the three just kind of stared at each other sitting in a rough circle on the floor.

"W-what…do we do n-now?" Tsuna whispered once the silence had gotten too much, clenching the material of his pants with a white knuckled grip. Kyouya had immediately tried the door as soon as he had wrapped up the worst of his injuries, only to find it very firmly locked. An air vent in the top corner of the wall across from the toilet was the only other opening out of the room, and it was too small for any of them to fit through. Leora cocked her head in thought.

"Take inventory." She decided after a moment.

"W-what-?"

"It means empty out your pockets."

Leora's opinion of their kidnappers' intelligence went up a notche when Kyouya growled at his lack of anything, having been thoroughly searched and stripped of anything that could be useful.

So they weren't completely stupid.

It was still annoying. Tonfa would have been really useful. At the very least satisfying to watch.

Leora had her six knives, a deck of cards, a lighter, a pack of strike anywhere matches, a spool of wire she'd found in the dumpster of a hardwire store, a yoyo she'd debated about giving it to Tsuna instead of the bracelet, and her flask of torch oil that she'd mistaken for her liquor flask. She had planned on taking a shot of liquid courage before going to the party, and ended up just wedging the flask between her knife holster and her ribs.

Tsuna pulled out the brass knuckles he'd gotten for his birthday out of his pocket along with the rope bracelet, two paperclips keeping a pack of Italian notecards together, a pen, and for some reason about seven acorns.

Add that to the lengths of rope Leora had managed to keep mostly intact, it wasn't that bad of a haul.

"Go ahead and give Kyouya the brass knuckles. He'll be able to use them better."

Willingly handing over the child sized weapon to the older boy Kyouya scowled at them, but slipped them on. Any weapon was better than no weapon.

"Tsuna, can you hang onto the rope? You're pockets are bigger. It might be useful later."

Tsuna obligingly shoved them in his pockets.

"N-now what?" Tsuna asked once everything had been shoved back into pockets and shirts.

Stretching out the worst of the kinks and aches, Leora got to her feet and walked to the door. "Now we get out of here."

"How?" Kyouya asked skeptically, rising from his crouched position to join her with Tsuna scrambling to follow, "The door is locked."

Leora let her mouth stretch into an impish grin as she held up one of the paper clips.

"Gather 'round, children. It's time you learned the wondrous art of lock picking."

"Where did you learn to pick a lock from?  _You're eight years old_." Tsuna asked incredulously, fear well and truly shoved aside for curiosity as he leaned in to watch Leora insert the bent ends into the lock.

Leora snorted, "My skills are varied and numerous. And I'm older than you."

"You can't be  _that_  much older than me. I'm taller than you." Tsuna argued with all the logic of a child, which Leora found took a bit of the sting out of the stab of bitterness and longing.

Leora was saved from replying by the solid  _thunk_  of the deadbolt shifting positions. Sticking the impromptu picks in her pocket, Leora eased the door open as silently as possible and stuck her head out for a quick sweep of the hallway.

"Alright, it's empty. Let's get the fuck out of here."

In an unspoken agreement Kyouya went out first, followed quickly by Tsuna with Leora bringing up the rear, weapons within easy reach.

Whatever building they were in was a lot different from the room they'd been in even if it was still pretty small. A few rooms and halls with a lot more wood than concrete, elaborate designs of dragons painted everywhere, and empty save for the three of them. There was a lot more furniture and better lighting, but the place wasn't that much bigger than some of European farmhouses Leora had seen once upon a time.

Seriously, how unprofessional were these people? Were they that arrogant to think tying someone up and throwing them in a locked room was secure enough to not even post a guard? For fucks sake, there weren't even any cameras.

Finding the kitchen all three of them had pretty much given up on being stealthy. Kyouya went straight for the fridge while she and Tsuna rummaged through the cabinets.

Anything edible and not that heavy Tsuna started shoving in a bag they'd liberated a few rooms back without any prompting. Leora highly approved. She'd added a few odds and ends herself. They hadn't managed to find an actual first aid kit yet.

The carney herself wasn't having that much luck with cabinets. All of hers had so far held various sized bottles of  _baijiu_. The liquor itself was actually a pretty good brand if the quality carried over between dimensions, but it's not like she could drink it right now. The people who lived here must have a drinking problem.

Leaving Tsuna to finish going through the bottom cabinets, Leora joined Kyouya at the fridge and forced herself to eat something. Cold, uncooked tofu was disgusting, but it wasn't the worst thing she's ever eaten.  _Casu Marzu_  was at the very top of that list.

Forcing Tsuna to stop and eat something Leora grabbed some of the bigger bottles if  _baijiu_  out of the cabinets.

If she wasn't going to be able to drink it, she sure as hell wasn't going to let their kidnappers enjoy it. Besides, the petty and vindictive part of her was calling for retribution.

Not really understanding what she was doing, Tsuna grabbed a bottle of his own to follow her. Kyouya's eyes had lit up somewhere around the fourth bottle she'd emptied and he'd joined in.

Once all but one of the smallest bottles was emptied – it was shoved in the bag for later – and the bottles smashed against the walls they finally got around to the door.

Peeking out showed that they were in a forest of some kind, a mountain by the look of it, and the house they were being held in was more of a hut on the edge of a compound.

Lights and people could be seen moving around what looked like the main house, but they were far enough away that they would be able to sneak around the corner and out of sight long enough to make a mad dash for the woods as long as they were quick.

Sticking to the same pattern as before Kyouya went out first, slinking around the corner will all the grace of a cat. Leora counted to sixty then sent Tsuna out, giving his shoulder a reassuring squeeze when his breath hitched.

Taking the pack of matches out Leora methodically ripped them all out, setting them up in an overlapping trail leading from the door to partway down the hallway. Setting the end closest to the door on fire with the lighter the carney quickly made her way out of the house and out to the woods where the boys were waiting.

She'd give it five, maybe ten minutes before anybody noticed anything. There weren't any windows so the interior of the place would be well and truly burning by the time someone noticed anything.

By the time they put the fire out and realized that there weren't three charred bodies in the back Leora and the others would be long gone.

Where the hell they would end up and how they got back to Namimori was another matter.

She's give up drinking if they were still anywhere  _near_  Japan.


	18. Chapter 18

 

**Chapter 18**

* * *

_You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true._

* * *

The rest of that night went by in a blur of anxiety, fear, determination, and exhaustion.

Their initial formation ended up changing at one point; neither Kyouya nor Tsuna had very good night vision so Leora ended up taking the lead sometime after the third or fourth nose dive the boys had taken over various roots and rocks.

The fact that Kyouya didn't complain about having to be lead around like a small child showed just how badly off their situation was.

They stumbled their way till morning before collapsing under a set of bushes and passing out for a few hours. Once they were up Kyouya and Tsuna each scarfed down some food before all three of them set off again, going at an angle from the direction they were originally heading.

They kept that up for another two days before they felt safe enough to actually stop instead of just catching their breathes and sleeping for short bursts.

Adrenaline was a wonderful thing but the crash that followed was never pretty. Tsuna was down for the count as soon as they found the hollowed out space under a tree and deemed it safe. Kyouya only stayed conscious a bit longer out of sheer spite, but he didn't last more than twenty minutes.

Dragging them closer together so they could leech warmth off of each other – and dear god were they heavy – Leora draped them in the blankets they'd stolen and went about collecting firewood and rocks for a pit.

She really didn't think they were in Japan anymore. The weather was still humid and mild, but Leora was basically going around in what as an adult would have been the equivalent of a sports bra or a really skimpy tank top wasn't helping anything, and she tended to get cold easily.

A sip here and there of her stolen booze was fine to warm up, but she wanted to keep it in reserve to use as a disinfectant for their injuries rather than to keep warm.

So, fire.

She vaguely remembered how to build a smokeless fire from when the core members of the circus had gotten fed up with trying to work the electric and gas stoves.  _Afi_  Viktor had chopped down a tree while Fin and Master Phillip had set up a camp of sorts.

Leora never did understand why they all decided to sleep outside instead of just going back to the trailers. They tended to do that a lot, despite how old they all were.

They said it was nostalgic.

Anyway, firewood. Preferable not green and very dry, some leaves and twigs, medium sized rocks, one of them being hopefully flat enough to dig with. Maybe some edible plants if she could find anything. The food they had pilfered needed to be conserved as much as possible.

They were in a forest so it shouldn't take that long to get everything together.

* * *

 

She had jinxed it. She just had to go and fucking jinx it. Shouldn't take long her ass, it had been nearly three hours.

All the wood she could easily find was either rotting, damp, or green. The leaf litter was damp, the bushes were damp, and most of the large rocks that had tried to trip them up in their escape had suddenly vanished leaving their marble sized counterparts in their place forcing her to go farther and farther from their little makeshift campsite.

She managed to find a few pine cones and sticks that were sheltered by some fallen logs – and how those weren't damp was a mystery she wasn't going to question – but the pile wasn't very big. She had a bit more luck with rocks once she managed to find a stream. They were only the size of her fist, but it was better than nothing. None of the fish she had seen were worth catching.

Giving it up as a bad job, Leora took her rocks and pinecones and headed back towards where the camp was. She had torch oil, so it wouldn't hurt to use the damp wood. It would make smoke, but if she was careful and didn't make the fire too big it shouldn't give away their positions.

The sight she returned to was Tsuna and Kyouya being surprisingly awake, the former frantically searching the area around the tree while the later was scowling and helping him look.

That… did not bode well.

Putting down her pile of kindling and rocks Leora rubbed at her wrists in an attempt to soothe away the ache there and stepped fully out of the trees.

"What did you lose, and how badly is it going to screw us over if we don't find it?"

Two heads snapped in her direction hard enough to make her wince, and the next thing she knew she was being bowled over by something fluffy and brown.

"Leora!  _There_  you are. We woke up and couldn't find you but all the stuff was still here and we weren't sure if you'd been kidnapped again or just hiding," frantically babbling into her shoulder Tsuna somehow managed to keep his grip on her while patting her down for injuries at the same time.

Sometime during the verbal diarrhea Kyouya came to stand over them, scowl still firmly in place and arms crossed over his chest "Where were you?"

"I went –Tsuna get  _off me_ – I went to find fire wood. Everything nearby was either wet or too green to use."

Managing to pry Tsuna off of her long enough to sit up, Leora gestured towards her meager little pile. "Unfortunately, pretty much everything in this place is damp. I did find a stream though, so if you're not concerned about potential bacterial diseases we won't have to worry about dying from dehydration."

Kyouya didn't look happy, but he didn't look borderline murderous anymore so Leora considered everything fine.

Tsuna did not agree.

Grabbing her face the boy practically smashed their foreheads together as he made sure Leora was looking him directly in the eyes, face surprisingly grim.

" _Don't go off like that again, Leora_. We didn't know where you were or if you were okay."

Thrown off kilter with how…angry… Tsuna sounded with her, the Italian didn't do more than lightly grip his wrists instead of fully pull him off.

"You were asleep and exhausted. There wasn't much point in waking you up." Her line of reasoning just seemed to make Tsuna angrier.

"Letting us know where you were going and if you were okay  _is_  the point!"

Leora's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as another thought crossed her mind. "Why are you awake anyway? I thought you'd still be asleep."

"You're still missing the point!"

"An animal fell into the den and woke us up." Kyouya answered, ignoring Tsuna who was doing his damnedest to drill holes in the Italian with his glare, and not meeting her eyes. Leora cocked an eyebrow.

"Something that hopefully didn't try to kill you?"

"It was a bunny. I think." Tsuna grouched, finally letting Leora go to angrily sulk, making sure she was within arm's reach as he did so.

Leora blinked, "A bunny?"

"Two," Tsuna clarified, "they landed on us when they jumped in and scared us awake. That's how we noticed you were gone." Face melting into concern, Tsuna turned back towards the tree they were sleeping under. "Hibari-san attacked them when they woke us up. I think they're still by the tree."

He wasn't wrong. Collapsed against opposite sides of the makeshift den as Kyouya put it where two brown fuzzy creatures that looked more like oversized fat gerbils than rabbits even if they did have the tails. One of them was out cold but still twitching slightly while the other was awake but unable to run away because its back legs were bent at odd angles.

It looked like it was in shock.

Without much thought Leora grabbed the injured one by the scruff and snapped its neck. Doing the same to the other one she left them stacked in a pile so she could come back and skin them once she had a fire going.

With those injuries they wouldn't have lived long before something killed them. At least this way it was quick and they would get some meat out of it and not have to resort to the food they had squirreled away.

She'd never skinned an animal before but it couldn't be that hard, right? The survival guides she'd read on the internet made it sound relatively simple.

Climbing out of the den Leora was confronted with two very bug eyed children. Blinking in surprise she glanced behind her to make sure there was nothing there that could potentially harm her. Seeing nothing the carney frowned in confusion.

"What's wrong now?"

"You…." Tsuna choked out, voice reedy with shock. Leora waited for him to elaborate, but when he didn't she fully climbed out of the tree roots so she wouldn't be looking up at them.

"…Yes?"

"You killed the bunnies."

When he still didn't elaborate Leora tilted her head, trying to remember what she was supposed to do during conversations where the other person only said statements, because Tsuna was obviously expecting something from her. When nothing came to mind she just nodded, albeit hesitantly. "Yes."

"I…you…what…" Burying his face in his hands, Tsuna scrubbed them over his face a few times before clutching at his hair, "You…why did you kill the bunnies?"

"For dinner. Why else?"

Kyouya nodded, eyeing the pile of dead animals with a new light in his eyes. Tsuna gave one short, shrill scream before turning green and letting go of his hair, face going strangely blank for how expressive he normally was. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, but nothing came out. Turning on a heel, he went to the pile of wood and stones Leora brought, picking up two at a time and bringing them into the camp and mumbling under his breath during each trip.

Leora's frown deepened. She'd obviously missed or said something that upset him, but she was too tired to analyze the conversation to find out what. Talking to people had never been her strong suit seeing as she rarely had to actually talk to people. It didn't help that her family was always blunt and rarely did small talk. Or that she never  _really_  had to talk to kids before.

Glancing between the two boys, Leora decided to forgo the hours of weird behavior and looks that usually went with sticking her foot in her mouth and just ask so she could see if she could fix it.

Going to the pile Tsuna was making the carney took one of the bigger rocks and began digging out a small whole, waiting until both of the boys were nearby before asking, "Did I say something wrong?"

Tsuna twitched, more of a full body flinch. Kyouya looked bored. Leora debated dropping the subject, but they would be stranded in the middle of nowhere for the un-seeable future. Better that they didn't feel uncomfortable around each other.

"I'm not good at this." She admitted, trying to find the right words, "I don't connect well with other people and on average have the emotional range of a brick. I don't understand people that well unless I really try and that's still hit or miss. If I say something wrong or that makes you uncomfortable you need to  _tell me_  so I can fix it."

Tsuna twitched again but his face wasn't blank anymore, just a bone deep exhaustion that Leora was intimately familiar with.

"…Do we  _have_  to eat the bunnies for dinner?" he asked after a moment, scrubbing a hand across his face again and smearing dirt all over his cheek.

"We need to save the food we have. They wouldn't have survived long with their injuries anyway."

The three of them finished building the fire in silence, the only noise being the snapping of sticks and the click of Leora's lighter. No one said a word when Leora went to the edge of their little clearing to skin and clean the bunnies as best she could – it wasn't neat or simple, the internet had  _lied_  – or came back to stick them in the fire.

Tsuna hesitated, looking completely miserable, but ate what was handed to him.

When it was time to sleep Leora gave in and plopped down besides the little Sky, letting him basically crawl into her lap for the comfort he wanted to fall asleep. Kyouya settled down about a foot away from them.

Shifting to get a little more comfortable, Leora settled in for another sleepless night of keeping watch.

* * *

 

Tsuna hated this. Hated it hated it hated it. This wasn't how his birthday was supposed to go.

It was supposed to be fun, and happy, and maybe a bit nerve wracking but all his friends were going to be there so it was still going to be great. He was  _not_  supposed to get kidnapped, hurt, and lost in the middle of the woods.

He was scared. So so scared that he could barely think, barely keep putting one foot in front of the other to keep going. All he wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry, cry for his Mama, cry because it hurt, cry because he still didn't know what was going on  _why was this happening?!_

But he couldn't do that, not if he wanted to get away so he could go home, back to Namimori, back to his Mama, back where it was  _safe_.

He had to be  _brave_.

Tsuna was anything but brave.

But Leora had asked, and he didn't want those scary people to hurt Leora or Hibari-san any more so he was going to have to.

He didn't understand how his friends could be so calm about this.

Well, Hibari-san wasn't really  _calm_. He was angry. Angrier than Tsuna had ever seen him. Angry enough to over shadow any fear or nerves he might have had and act like he normally did, but Leora…Leora was  _annoyed_.

Not angry. Not scared. Annoyed. Maybe a little frustrated. Like getting kidnapped and hurt wasn't that big of a deal.

It was hard for him to wrap his head around, but Tsuna chalked that up to her being a lot braver than he was.

Then his best friend killed two animals claiming they were for dinner, seeing absolutely nothing wrong with that and Tsuna could actually feel his brain break.

He knew his best friend didn't show her emotions very often – he might be stupid but he wasn't  _that_  stupid, he knew the Italian wasn't comfortable around people because she didn't know what to do – but learning she just didn't feel emotions that same way he did and experiencing it first-hand like  _this_  felt like a slap in the face. Even Hibari-san was shocked.

His friends were really weird.

Tsuna just decided not to think about it.

It was much easier not to think about it.

He didn't feel nearly as scared if he didn't think too hard about it.

They moved around a lot, camping in a different place every day, trying to stay close to the river Leora had found when she'd disappeared that first time going to find firewood so they would have water. (He wouldn't let her out of his sight anymore.  _At all_. He was afraid if he looked away she would disappear and he would never see her again. It was bad enough in Namimori when he wasn't sure if one day she just wouldn't turn up at his house or the park. Out in the middle of the nowhere the idea of her disappearing was so much worse. Tsuna was determined not to let that happen. Leora might be weird, but she was _his_.)

All three of them were about ready to drop dead from exhaustion by the end of the week. They were all scratched, bruised, dirty, and starving, Leora being the worst.

The bruises around her face had gotten a lot darker around the eyes and Tsuna could count her ribs underneath her tank top. She'd also gotten really cold, slightly shivering almost constantly and practically cooking herself in the fire every night trying to warm up when she wasn't wedging herself between Tsuna and Hibari-san when they went to sleep. They were getting really worried about her, even Hibari-san.

She didn't have a fever – both Tsuna and Hibari-san had checked once she'd fallen asleep – but that didn't mean she wasn't getting sick. It was the only reason he could think of why she would forget to eat, staring at any food they caught absently before handing it off to either him or Hibari-san.

(Tsuna decided that since his friends were weird, they had a weird way of showing they weren't feeling well. Getting cold to the touch instead of burning up when you were sick wouldn't be the strangest thing to happen to him recently. He never got hungry when he was sick so he figured it was something like that.)

Worse than that her whole face had gone blank. Like, completely blank. The longer they were in the woods her face just kind of froze over; her mouth didn't twitch into a grin or a frown, her eyebrows didn't move anymore, and her eyes had gone flat. Cold. Not all there.

Like the dead bunnies.

It scared him more than the men who kidnapped them.

They needed to get out of the woods.

Leora  _needed_  to get warm and medicine so her eyes wouldn't be that terrifying blankness anymore. He  _knew_  she did. Hibari-san needed better medical attention than crude bandages and strong smelling alcohol too. So did he, now that he was thinking about it.

Tsuna could wait on getting home, pretend to be brave for longer, or however long he needed to be as long as his friends got help.

He made it this far. He could do it. He  _could_  be brave. As long as his friends came first,  _he could do it_.

It took them a week to find a village. One week were they were chased by bears, had fallen off a cliff into the river and nearly drowned – he was learning how to swim as soon as he was home. Forget school, Hibari-san could beat him up as many times as he liked he'd skip class and learn in the river if he had to. He was  _not_  going to nearly drown again – learned how to make a fishing pole out of a paperclip and whatever you could find, eaten a lot more small fuzzy creatures than Tsuna would care to think about since they had run out of food, and somehow managed to leave the forested area into a place that looked like it was mostly bushes, scraggly trees, rocks, even bigger mountains and cold air.

Tsuna nearly cried when he saw the houses.

Leora grabbing the collar of his shirt was the only reason he didn't sprint the rest of the way. Tsuna immediately started struggling.

"But Leora! Houses!" he whined, gesturing towards the houses that would have food, and a bath, and a bed, and medicine, and  _food_ -

"We do not know if it is safe. Do not go running in blind." Leora chastised flatly, eyes never leaving the buildings. That was another thing Tsuna hated, how flat her words came out and how different she sounded to how she normally did.

She didn't say any of those bad words she always said, not once she went blank. Without them she sounded colder, more like one of those robots he'd seen on TV that had recorded sayings. Tsuna decided he didn't like robots as much as he though he did, and he would never try to get Leora to stop saying bad words again. He'd even say them too as long she didn't go back to being like this.

Tsuna  _hated_  this Leora.

It was just another reason  _they needed to get into that town_.

"But-"

"Leora is right." Hibari-san interrupted, not looking happy about it. "They could belong to the same people that kidnapped us."

"We don't know that!" Tsuna snapped, glaring at the older boy. Hibari-san glared back. "We can't rule it out, either. If we get caught again they won't be as lenient, and we might not be able to escape again."

Biting back a scream of frustration – it would attract attention. Attention was bad out here so his habit of screaming when scared or surprised had to go and  _stay gone_  if they all were all going to stay safe – Tsuna dragged his hands through his matted hair and tugging harshly on the knots.

They were right. He knew they were right, but that didn't make him feel any better. They needed food and warmth and medicine and they needed it  _now_.

"Can we steal what we need? Once the sun goes down?" he asked instead of arguing, fully turning towards the less clumsy two of the trio. He didn't like stealing, but again, his friends came first. And they would have to do most of the stealing. He still tripped over his feet to often to be quiet.

Hibari-san looked like he didn't mind the idea, turning to look over the cluster of houses with Leora who had yet to look away. Her head tilted slightly before turning those blank eyes to him.

"As you wish."

That was the second time she'd said that since they'd ended up here. It was another thing Tsuna hated; that those words made him feel warm as much as they twisted his stomach in knots and cause a sharp pain to stab at his chest.

Fisting a hand over that cracking pain, Tsuna made a silent vow, unaware of the glowing orange flecks sparking to life in his eyes.

Hibari-san would heal and Leora would go back to normal, and it was happening  _tonight_. If these people would get mad over losing a few things they could get over it.

 _Fuck them_ , as Leora would say.

His friends came first.

* * *

 

Eyes flicking over the cluster of houses, Leora was easily able to pick out the ones she'd noted from earlier in the dark. Only one or two people had gone in or out of them all day, some carrying laundry others food stuff. If there was anyone else living there they were either too old or two young to leave the house on their own.

It would be simple to walk in and get the supplies the children needed.

Tsuna shifted next to her, clearly uncomfortable in the dark. He kept sneaking glances at her, worried. Kyouya as well.

She was not sure why.

The children where in much worse condition than she was, needed much more than she did.

She was not hungry or tired.

Just cold.

It was unpleasant, seeping into her arms and legs and torso, painful almost.

Fires and Tsuna's desire for comfort at night were enough to keep the cold at bay. Mostly.

Tsuna was warm enough physically, but cold did radiate off of him. Like a bonfire that radiated heat you knew you were supposed to be warm, could see the flames, but could not feel the heat due to a wall of glassy ice surrounding it, keeping the heat at bay.

She wondered why she did not notice it before.

His seal was cold. She could feel it. Almost see it.

She was getting used to the cold. Numb. Her chest was the only warmth that remained.

A small part of her brain pointed out that this was not the first time she had felt the cold. Before Master Philip and the circus Leora had been cold, so cold, had not even tried to be warm leaving only a little spark in her chest. The cold made it easier to think, easier to see, easier to move.

She remembered the cold being useful. It would be more convenient to stop trying to get warm.

The children did not seem to agree, insistent that she grab a coat for herself when getting their supplies.

Tsuna wanted it, one of the rare demands he had for her, so she would get it.

Satisfied that the people would be asleep by now Leora led the way fully out of the trees, around rocks and stones that would trip up the children, down to the cluster of houses.

Keeping Tsuna outside and closest to the road to keep watch, her and Kyouya started going through the houses. They were not locked, conveniently enough. No one would expect thieves in such an isolated place.

The second house she went through had children; there were toys piled in a corner on the main floor and three small lumps sharing a bed upstairs. They barely shifted when Leora went through their drawers.

The clothes she could find where colorful; baggy robes in a style that reminded her of traditional Chinese clothing, but with more layers.

Shrugging on the first one she pulled out, Leora tugged the baggy material into place before placing the others into a bag she had taken from the first house. As an afterthought she grabbed one of the many blankets off the bed, rolling it up and shoving it in with the other clothes.

The next house she took food, a wet stone, and matches. Water bottles where added not long after. She also took a map she found shoved in a drawer.

Apparently they were in Tibet.

That would be problematic. Going back through the forest into China would not be ideal, not with their kidnappers likely scouring the woods and nearby towns and cities for them. Going north in general would be bad. Too cold for the children to handle. It would not be safe for them to sleep outside, not with winter being so close.

It didn't cross her mind that it would be too cold for her.

Going south through India would be better. It would be easier for children to blend in, less suspicious for them to be by themselves.

Getting to a port and onto a ship to Japan should not be difficult.

Decided, Leora rolled up the map and placed it with the other stolen items. Creeping out of the house Leora headed straight for one of the animal pens; she had yet to see a vehicle to commandeer, but she had seen horses.

That would speed their journey along.

She had just managed to bridle one when she heard yelling coming from the edge of town where she was meant to meet up with the children.

Lights were being turned on, people coming out of the houses in response to the noise. Leora pressed farther into the shadows, abandoning the horse as a sliver of fear and worry shot through her, quickly smothered in cold.

The children had been discovered.

She was nearly to the source of the noise when there was another shout – of fear, the voices were fearful her brain absently noted – then an explosion of heat and light.

Purple light.

Slipping around a crate Leora cast an eye over the aftermath: men knocked over and burned, some with weapons scattered across the ground that could barely be seen since the lights had been extinguished with whatever Kyouya had just done, a small vehicle similar to a golf cart with Tsuna slumped over it, wide-eyed. In the center of it all was Kyouya lying dazed on the ground, the residue of purple flames licking at his hands.

Kyouya had gone Active.

Her chest warmed at the realization, a flash of pride fighting back the cold.

The warmth was pushed back until it was nothing more than a small spark in her chest when one of the burned men stumbled to his feet, reaching for an axe. Cold sinking in painfully and twisted into an intense pressure in the place behind her eyes.

Leora believed it was fear.

The man stumbled closer until he was above Kyouya, axe raised to strike as the other hand made the sign to ward off evil, face twisted into a ugly mask of fear and hatred in the shadows.

That small spark extinguished as the fear resting like a lump of ice became a searing cold that stabbed into her eyeballs. And everything became  _clear_.

The shadows no longer existed, disappearing at the white haze that took over her vision.

She could see  _everything_ ; from every angle, around things, through them she could see the men lying on the ground, the walls and houses, the people in them, the surrounding mountains. Like she was everywhere at once.

It was  _painful_ , overwhelming as all the different perspectives bombarded her brain at once, clawing at her sense of reality. Making things seem too fast yet slower than a snails craw. Making her want to  _scream_.

Instead she pulled out a knife.

A flick of the wrist sent the knife flying even as she turned away. She could still see the man moving, the arc of the knife. Heard him scream as his wrist was skewered as clearly as if he was in her own head.

She ignored it.

The cold would not allow her to focus on it. Did not see a reason to focus on it. It was unimportant, after all.

It was easy getting Kyouya to his feet. The child willingly leaned against her even as he stared at her with open shock. She put him in the vehicle next to Tsuna who was as wide eyed as the boy she was supporting.

She could see the keys hidden between the cushion of the seat at the metal frame. Fishing them out, she started the car, ignoring the only remaining man who was conscious and uninjured rise from the ground behind her grab the axe the man she had injured dropped to grab his wrist.

With how he held the axe and how badly he was shaking the throw would miss. Leaning slightly to the left the blade would just barely graze her shoulder.

Not worth her attention.

Tsuna did not share her opinion.

She could see his eyes widen as he noticed the man, heard him gasp. Shifting slightly kept him from shoving her out of the way and putting himself into the path of the axe.

She'd have a gouge in her shoulder now she noted, shifting the vehicle into gear so they could leave. The white haze shifted slightly, focusing like the end of a telescope as her attention shifted more towards the path they would take to get to India then towards the gas tank. It was mostly full. It would get them a decent ways towards where they needed to go.

Her eyes that had not left the steering wheel since placing Kyouya in the seat shifted up as Tsuna's gasp turned into a snarl, haze shifting again to focus almost fully on the boy.

Teeth bared and eyes glowing orange, a wave of heat and light poured out of him as he threw his arms out wide in an attempt to shield her, knocking the axe out of the air and the man who threw it onto his back. His clothes started burning. All other people who had come running were knocked out as well.

A fire crackled to life on his forehead at the same time she saw the ball of ice in his chest crack and splinter in places, spilling out flames like water through a sieve. Those flames wrapped around Kyouya like a protective shell, orange meshing with the purple now rolling off the barely conscious boys' shoulders at the same time they curled around Leora.

They were warm, full of protective anger and concern. Comforting.

Easily batted away.

The touch was unnecessary. She needed no such protection no matter how readily they were offered. The orange would not mesh like it did with the purple, though it was kind of him. The though brought that spark of warmth back to her chest, chasing away some of the cold.

Catching the boy as she swayed, she placed him on the seat next to Kyouya. They curled into each other's touch, unconscious as soon as their heads leaned against each other. Though no longer physically visible, she could still see their flames wrap around each other, Tsuna's almost desperately.

A curl of satisfaction wormed its way through the cold inside her brain down to her chest.

That spark of warmth throbbed, grew.

Releasing the parking break, Leora steered the vehicle around the fallen bodies towards India, calculating the distance she could go before the cold receded and things went blurry once again.

Tsuna wished to go home.

It was not his main wish, but it was a wish none-the-less.

It was her job to make it come true.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

* * *

_The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire._

_Ferdinand Foch_

* * *

Stabbing pain was the first thing she registered once her consciousness swam back into place, sticking through parts of her head, body, and eyes like shards of glass. Biting back a moan, Leora shifted, trying to release some of the pain and regretting it horribly when it did nothing but make it worse.

_Why was she hurting?_

Prying open her eyelids felt like lifting weights, leaving her drained and weak.

It was bright.

Too bright.

It  _hurt_.

It  _burned_.

 _Why did it hurt_?

She wasn't able to bite back the noise a second time. A moan trailing off into a pained gurgle wheezed between her lips as she curled up again, ignoring the way it made her body throb, too focused on relieving the now searing pain in her eyes.

She heard something to her left move, crunching against gravel and rustling as it settled down next to her. It was  _too loud_. The sound echoed around her head like the bang of a gong.

_Did she fall asleep in a speaker again?_

Something touched her shoulder. She shied away. Her nerves felt like they were scrapped raw, detecting every little thing.

_It was too much too much toomuchtoomuchtoomuchithurtsithurtstoomuch-_

"Leora?" a voice whispered, scared and concerned and  _too loud_ , "Can you hear me?"

Leora moaned again and curled up tighter.

The hand on her shoulder was shaking her now, gentle and insistent. Painful. Leora wanted to snarl. She wanted to scream. She wanted to run away to the darkest, quietest place she could find and curl up until the pain stopped. But that would make her hurt more  _now_. Curling up tighter Leora firmly wedged her pounding head as well as she could into her knees.

_Too loud too much don't touch me go away goawaygoaway-_

"Leora,  _please_. You need to wake up." the voice wheedled, "Can you open your eyes? Just for a second?"

"t' bri't" Leora croaked out, voice rough and garbled in her ears, before pressing her face more firmly into her knees to block out the light, the pain that particular action caused well worth the relief.

The shaking stopped. More crunching of gravel as the person walked away, talking to someone else. She heard shifting and then the crunching sound came back, each step like smashing boulders in her ears.

Something heavy was draped over her, scraping against her skin like knives and blocking out the light. That little bit of relief was amazing.

"Is that better?" the voice asked. Another voice huffed. Something nudged hard at her side, the force felt almost enough to shatter her ribs.

_She could hear her bones creak-_

"Open your eyes."

"Hibari-san! Stop it, she's hurt!" the first voice hissed, sending spikes farther into her ears. "You know your strength had gotten out of hand since last night, so  _stop_. You're going to hurt her." Recognition of the name swam through her jumbled head and Leora managed to pry open her eyes, squinting against the dim lighting.

_ToObRiGhToOmUcHiThUrTs-_

Blankets had been draped over her and two others to act as a shield against the dim evening light.

 _Kyouya and Tsuna_  her scrambled brain supplied, that little bit of information fished from the scattered pieces that was her thoughts and clicking into place like a puzzle piece.

Both boys were pressed shoulder to shoulder, practically leaning on each other as they huddled under the blanket so light wouldn't get in. They both looked comfortable with each other, glad for the proximity.

A part of Leora's brain twinged at that, the shards of memory shifting slightly into a picture that made this seem off, but Leora's head was hurting too much for her to care.

Seeing her eyes open Tsuna slumped in on himself, relief clear on his face.

"Oh,  _thank the gods_. I was afraid you wouldn't wake up."

That low whisper, relief and worry bleeding off the words rattled around her head, words banging around in her skull in time with the pain.

Closing her eyes Leora let her head plop back down on her knees. Tsuna squawked. Something hard jabbed Leora in the ribs again, making her flinch at just how  _painful_  it was. Leora squinted up into the face of Kyouya that was only inches from her own.

"Do.  _Not_. Go back. To sleep." He snarled, voice surprisingly quiet for how angry he sounded but  _still too loud_. Leora flinched again, clutching at her head and curling up as tightly as she could. Both boys went blessedly quiet.

It took a while before the pounding in Leora's head subsided enough for her to think in something resembling coherent thought. She blinked open pained eyes she didn't remember closing. Kyouya was still in front of her face, face pinched with his eyes boring into hers.

Taking in the stress that was lining the boy's face and the set of his shoulders another part of her brain clicked into place.

Kyouya was worried. Scared even.

That wasn't right. Kyouya wasn't supposed to be scared.

Leora didn't want him to worry.

But her head still felt like it was being repeatedly stabbed with icicles and her eyes were still  _burning ithurttoomuchtoomuchmakeitstop-_

It was taking everything she had not to throw up.

Leora didn't want to be conscious.

But she didn't want Kyouya to be afraid. She couldn't remember  _why_ , but she didn't want him to be afraid.

Shifting had what little vision Leora allowed herself swimming and dancing with spots, but it got her close enough for her purposes.

Burying her face into the dirty fabric of Kyouya's pants felt like the equivalent of rubbing her face with sand paper and then dousing the raw skin with salt. Leora mumbled a mostly coherent '-m be fin' before closing her eyes and letting the darkness swallow her whole, tasking away all sensation and leaving her blessedly numb.

* * *

Tsuna gaped as his best friend passed out again using Hibari-san's lap as a pillow.

The fact that he could practically  _feel_  Hibari-san's shock, discomfort, worry, and slight relief kept him from dwelling on the sudden hurt that Leora didn't decide to comfort  _him_  like she usually did. Because that was definitely what she was doing, making sure that Hibari-san didn't worry.

It was assurance.

It just wasn't in Japanese.

Running his hands though his hair Tsuna slumped over so his elbows were resting on his knees.

"She said she'll be fine."

Hibari-san grunted, hesitantly laying a hand on Leora's head. Tsuna wasn't sure what to think of that.

On one hand, part of him was ecstatic that his friends were getting more comfortable with each other.

On the other hand, Hibari-san was patting her head after she plopped down almost in his lap. Tsuna usually had to wrestle Leora to the ground to get her to show affection like that. Tsuna was half tempted to just curl up next to her with Hibari-san so they could all cuddle.

It probably wouldn't last long if he did. Hibari-san seemed like the kind of person who would sooner kill someone than let them cuddle with him.

"What language was she speaking, little animal?" Tsuna shook his head a bit to clear it. He needed to focus now.

"Italian." Hibari-sans eyebrows furrowed.

"How do you know it?"

"Leora taught me." Tsuna frowned, "We were going to start on English the day after my birthday. With everything that's happened Chinese might be a better idea. At lease if this happens again I'll know what they're saying." He mused aloud before he really thought about the words that just came out of his mouth.

Horror settled like a stone in the pit of his stomach. He buried his head in his hands, fighting the urge to cry.

Tsuna was actually expecting something like this to happen again. A part of him  _knew_  that this was going to happen again. And he was just calmly accepting the fact that kidnapping was now a part of his life and all he was really concerned about was knowing what the people around him were saying so he could know why. AND he had been thinking about cuddling with Hibari-san – it would be nice to have all of  _his_  friend nearby when he was sleeping, where he could check on them and make sure they were safe and to be warm – which he would have immediately passed out in horror for thinking just a few months ago. Hell, not even a week ago.

What was his life?

All he wanted was friends and a normal school life.

Instead he got friends, a slightly better school life, and kidnappings.

He could do without the kidnappings!

Something hitting him in the head snapped Tsuna out of his mental breakdown and had him plowing face first into the ground. Hibari-san lowered his hand back to Leora's head, growling under his breath as he glared at his fingers clenching and unclenching in Leora's hair.

(That was the third time Hibari-san had accidentally sent Tsuna face first into the dirt hard enough to leave an imprint on the ground. Before that he had reduced a tree to splinters when he punched it in frustration, causing an explosion of wood and purple fire. Both of their eyes had nearly bulged out of their heads when he did that. The rest of the tree falling down on them immediately after hadn't been fun, either.)

"Stop doing that, little animal." Tsuna rubbed at the new lump on his head.

"Hitting people can't be your answer for everything, Hibari-san." Tsuna grouched, "And doing what?"

Hibari-san's lip curled up like he'd smelled something bad.

"Panicking like an herbivore."

Tsuna glared as something in him flared to life along with his temper, bits and pieces of something crumbling away as warmth surged in his chest.

"If you hadn't noticed," he said bluntly, orange bleeding into his eyes as his fists clenched around the fabric of his pants, "we've been kidnapped,  _hit in the head more times than I can count_ , chased by bears, nearly drowned, starved in what I'm pretty sure is  _China_ , nearly been killed  _so many times_ , and somehow  _set ourselves on fire last night_  after nearly dying  _again_. And now Leora looks half dead, she's obviously in pain, and her  _eyes were still glowing._ I haven't been able to protect her at all since this clusterfuck happened! Not from the kidnappers, not from the bears, not from whatever the weird fire thing is. On top of that, I'm already thinking about this happening again, so I have a right to be panicking!" Tsuna screeched.

Hibari-san eyed him with interest. "Your hands are on fire again."

Tsuna blinked.

Now that Hibari-san mentioned it, he felt something warm and flickering twist around his fingers, almost like silk.

Almost too scared to look, Tsuna glanced down at his hands.

"HIIEEEEEEE PUT IT OUT PUT IT OUT I DON'T WANT TO DIIEEEEE!"

* * *

Tsuna stared glumly at the charred remains of his clothes. They'd managed to keep the blanket from going up in flames but his shirt and shorts – which had already been badly burnt from the night before – hadn't survived, leaving him with his boxers as his only clothing.

Tsuna had  _liked_  that shirt.

Mostly though, Tsuna just missed his pants.

Tsuna hadn't thought getting kidnapped and lost in a foreign country could get any worse, but being lost in a foreign country after getting kidnapped was a lot worse when you were doing it in only your underwear and sneakers.

Uncomfortable didn't even begin to describe the feeling.

Taking a deep breathe Tsuna closed his eyes, running over Italian phrases in his head to keep calm. Freaking out again wouldn't do him any good and he  _really_  didn't want to risk losing his boxers.

Taking another look at his best friend wrapped up in the blanket, the phrase he heard the girl use most often when she saw something around Namimori that made her uncomfortable and signaling that she was going home for the day, popped into his head.

_Fuck it. I'm done._

Tsuna didn't really get it what she meant before, but he definitely got it now.

He was done.

Done with the kidnapping, done with being lost, done with setting himself on fire, just…done.

He'd deal with this later.

Giving the ashes of his clothes one last mournful look Tsuna pried off his – miraculously intact – shoes before unwrapping part of the blanket around Leora so he could wedge himself into the blanket burrito with her. It took a bit of wiggling, but eventually he got in his preferred spot so he could wrap his arms around her stomach and bury his face in her neck.

Tsuna gave a content sigh. This was better.

Safer.

Comforting.

Tsuna would be perfectly happy to stay like this forever.

"What are you doing, little animal?" Tsuna cracked open an eye, not really happy his cuddle time was being interrupted even if it was by his other friend.

"Cuddling." Hibari-san's face screwed up.

"Why?"

"Because setting the rest of my clothes on fire was the last straw, so I'm done with today. I'm going to ignore the world right now. We can run away some more later."

Hibari-san didn't look impressed.

"Leora grabbed spare clothes from one of the houses."

"Will get later. Cuddle now." Closing his eye again, Tsuna tried to go to sleep. He didn't get farther than dozing when a bundle of fabric was dropped on his head.

Tsuna blinked in confusion, eyes flicking between the roll of fabric and an unhappy looking Hibari-san.

"Put on the clothes, little animal. We don't need you getting sick."

Tsuna weight the pros and cons of getting up and doing as he was told or staying where he was before ultimately deciding that Hibari-san was right. He couldn't afford to get sick, not when he still had to make sure his friends stayed safe.

The clothes were weird looking, but warm enough and easy to put on. Holding his arms out and turning in a circle so the taller boy could make sure he put it on right had Hibari-san nodding in approval.

Satisfied, Tsuna went right back to cuddling his best friend with a happy hum.

"Why are you still… cuddling?"

"Puppy pile effect." Tsuna immediately shot back out of reflex. Hibari-san grunted.

"What?"

Sighing, Tsuna rolled over Leora so he was on her other side and he could look Hibari-san in the eyes without having to let Leora go.

"Puppy pile effect," Tsuna repeated, "You know how puppies cuddle together like we've been doing at night? It's because it makes them feel safe and calmer because they're around each other."

At least that's what Tsuna  _thought_  was the reason. He wasn't absolutely sure but Tsuna would swear on his life that it was. It was his main argument for when he wanted to cuddle with Leora back home. Tsuna wasn't really sure if she believed him, but she gave in every now and again so he was happy enough to keep using it.

"Like a pack?" Hibari-san asked after a moment, looking contemplative.

Tsuna rolled that around in his head.

Pack. That meant family, right?

"Yeah, like a pack."

Leora was family as far as he was concerned. He hoped that she felt the same, but something told him asking anytime soon would be a Bad Idea.

That was fine. Tsuna could wait. He had waited eight years for a friend to show up. He didn't really want to, but he could wait a bit longer for more family besides his Mama.

Hibari-san flopping down on top of him had Tsuna wheezing in surprise, startled, but Hibari-san just bopped him on the head as he shifted to get comfortable on top of the blankets in a way that had him lounging across both Tsuna and Leora.

"I'll keep watch over the pack." He said firmly, giving Tsuna a nod. Even from where he was beneath him Tsuna could see that Hibari-san's usually grey eyes were purple – again – as he kept scanning the trees. They were kind of hard to miss since Hibari-san's eyes were normally grey and they were, you know,  _glowing_.

But Tsuna was  _done_  and nothing was on fire.

So, fuck it.

Nearly boneless off the warm feeling of  _safety protection mine mine mine_  that he'd been feeling since last night – that was  _so much stronger_  now – Tsuna just shifted so Hibari's weight wasn't digging as much into his hip anymore and buried his face back into the crook of Leora's neck.

* * *

Leora didn't wake up again for the rest of that day and the next.

After passing out both boys noticed her temperature started getting weird, going from burning up to freezing cold every few minutes. Hibari managed to pour some water down her throat, but it hadn't been much. Hibari wouldn't say it out loud but they were both afraid they would accidently drown her if they tried to do that again.

The puppy pile turned more into a huddle after an hour, both boys getting as close as they could to keep the smaller girl warm, only leaving to build a fire or fetch more food and water from the bags.

(Being able to set yourself on fire made building a fire a lot easier. They'd lost Leora's lighter at some point and neither Tsuna nor Hibari could find the matches. Tsuna had gotten so frustrated that the stupid pile of wood wouldn't light no matter how many sparks he made with the rocks that his hands had caught on fire again. The flames weren't any bigger than a candle flame – not like before, these were flickering and weak – and Tsuna had wasted no time in shoving his flames towards the kindling.

He did a victory dance once the fire had caught. Hibari could make all the faces he wanted, Tsuna was  _ecstatic_  that something that was not his clothes finally caught on fire.)

They'd planned on staying where they were until Leora woke up again and was able to walk.

That decision didn't last more than a day before Tsuna sat upright from being dead asleep, startling Hibari and nearly taking a fist to the head because of it.

"We need to move."

"Little animal-"

"We need to move  _now_. Something bad is coming."

Hibari perked up, immediately scanning the area again. His eyes flashed purple.

"I don't see or hear anything."

"I don't either." Tsuna confessed, scrambling to his feet and started shoving things into bags. He stopped long enough to look at Hibari. "But I  _know_  something is coming. I don't know what, but every part of me is practically  _screaming_  that we're in danger, and we have to leave  _now_."

Hibari bristled.

"I am a carnivore. I can handle-"

"Like you were able to handle it back in the village?" Tsuna cut him off sharply, "Hibari, we need to run. Leora's still unconscious. If it's those people from the village with more weapons we wouldn't stand a chance and Leora might get hurt. We need to go.  _Now_."

Hibari snarled and punched another tree.

Tsuna ignored him, more focused on kicking dirt onto the fire to put it out.

That done, Tsuna started putting their bags into the little car they'd stolen. Hibari helped, even if he didn't look happy about it.

Getting Leora into the car was a lot harder. There were only two seats and then the small storage area in the back. Even with Tsuna's increase in strength from all the exercise and Hibari's help it was hard to get her in the back with the bags since they had to lift her up.

Thank the gods she was asleep for that. With how hesitant Hibari was in grabbing her now that he'd gotten a lot stronger and Tsuna's still pretty weak grip they'd dropped her…more than once.

"Do you know which direction Leora was taking us before?" Tsuna asked once they'd finished getting everything in the car and found the keys. Hibari immediately got into the driver's seat while Tsuna decided to sit in the back with Leora.

"No."

"What about the map?"

"It caught on fire."

"Ah…right. I forgot."

"Which way should we go?" Hibari asked, completely unbothered by their lack of map.

"Wait, why are you asking me?"

"Animals have instincts that alert them to danger and to where safety is." Hibari explained like he was speaking to a particularly dumb person. "Your instincts say that something dangerous is coming. Your instincts should know where we go next." Tsuna sweat dropped.

"I really don't think that's how it works for humans, Hibari…"

"Which direction, little animal?"

"Just keep heading the direction the car is pointed for now." Tsuna decided, shuffling the bags around so that Leora would be more comfortable. "We can always go a different way later. Right now we just need to not be here."

Hibari started the car.

The warning bells going off in Tsuna's head quieted, going from a screaming siren to dull whisper in the back of his head now that they were about to move.

The whisper grew into a warning when Hibari went to put the car into drive. Sticking his head through the window that separated the front from the back, Tsuna gave a nervous laugh.

"Um, Hibari…do you even know how to drive this thing?"

Hibari's response was to floor it.

"HIIIEEEEEEEEEEE!"

* * *

"Are you trying to kill us?!"

"You're overreacting, little animal."

"TREE! LOOK OUT FOR THE TREE!"

Swerving sharply to the side had them missing the tree but nearly sent Tsuna out of the car.

"WHO TAUGHT YOU TO DRIVE?"

"Mother gave me a game to play the last time I was in the hospital." Hibari answered absently, "It was not that entertaining, but it was similar to driving."

Tsuna could feel the blood draining out of his face. Another sharp turn sent them over cropping of rocks, the bouncing nearly sending the bags and Leora flying. Tackling the girl managed to keep her in the car. Tsuna managed to snag the bags with the foot that wasn't being used to help brace himself and his friend.

Tsuna wailed.

"THIS ISN'T MARIO KART!"

* * *

Unknown to either of the boys, several embers from the fire had managed to escape Tsuna's attempts to smother them, relighting the fire.

Leaves were next, having been flung close to the fire pit when the tires dug trenches into the ground. A well placed gust of wind hand the fire landing in the splinters, and from the splinters to the two trees that Hibari and knocked over in his frustration. The wind blew harder.

The campsite and around a mile in the direction they had come became a wildfire within an hour of then leaving, destroying any trace that they were there and forcing men with dogs to hastily backtrack and go around, buying them several days head start.

* * *

In another part of China, an infant stood in the wreckage of a mountain compound.

Large parts of the main building had been destroyed, wall and roofs caved in with human shaped holes peppering the rest. Unconscious men littered the ground, bodies beaten and broken. The infant ignored all that, more intent on only conscious person left.

Red eyes bored into brown, and the monkey on the infants head bared its teeth.

"I'm not going to ask you again." The infant said calmly, mouth shaped into a serene smile that did absolutely nothing to disguise just how angry the child was.

"Where is my nephew?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had planned to get this out before Christmas, but my motivation to do, anything really, and shriveled up and died and I've only recently gotten it back. Sorry for the wait.
> 
> Also, for the people who have been asking me whether this is going to be a Tsuna x Leora or and Kyouya x Leora, I don't know. I haven't decided if there will be a pairing of any kind at all honestly. It may happen, but that's a long way off before I decide anything. Tsuna's only nine and Kyouya is only a few years older.
> 
> Tsuna likes cuddling. I'm pretty sure by this point the kid's starved for any kind of positive physical attention. Leora may be reluctant to give it, but it is there. She makes him feel safe, warm, and not alone anymore. All of which I'm sure had to be hell for a Sky's instincts, especially a sealed one. Think of it like a dragon guarding its treasure, which in this case happens to be people. It's best if they're all in one place, and if he can physically wrap himself around them to be sure they're there, well that's even better.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

* * *

_Where there's a will there's a way. Perhaps tomorrow if now today._

_-Michele Jennae_

* * *

They'd run out of gas after a couple of hours, car finally stuttering to a stop about a kilometer away from an honest to gods road – with concrete and everything! – just as the sun started coming up.

Hibari looked vaguely annoyed at their lack of transportation.

Or it could have been Tsuna falling out of the back once the car finally came to a stop, crying rivers down his face and hysterically chanting ' _never again never again- '_ over and over as he kissed the ground.

Tsuna didn't really care.

He was  _alive_  and Hibari was  _never_  allowed to drive again no matter what.

Tsuna wanted to live long enough to be an adult.

They managed to get Leora out from the back, being extra careful not to drop her this time, and laid her down, surrounding her with the bags and the blanket to get her as warm and comfortable as possible. Then they set about the now familiar routine of setting up camp.

It took a lot of concentrating, but Tsuna managed to get another sliver of fire to appear in the palm of his hand, face scrunched up in determination as he willed the flame to stay long enough to light the wood.

Tsuna was gutting a bunny Hibari had caught – since they didn't want to risk Hibari's random shows of super strength to crush it – while Hibari stroked the coals when they heard the bags shift.

Heads snapping up, both boys watch in utter silence as Leora propped herself up on the bags, hands clutching at her head and making her mess of curls stick out even more. She squinted her – thankfully – brown eyes open against the light and Tsuna breathed a sigh of relief.

She was back to normal.

Tsuna didn't even get a chance to call her name before she was lurching forward, scrambling a few feet away from the bags before hunching over and heaving, emptying what little she had in her stomach as she tried to prop herself up on her hand and failed.

Tsuna and Hibari were by her side in an instant, wrapping arms around her chest to support her while she choked and gagged until nothing else came up.

* * *

Leora had only had a handful of hangovers in her life – that weren't even that severe to begin with – and even less instances of being sick, so she didn't have much of a reference compared to other people, but she thought this must be how members of her family had described the feeling of a hangover as 'death warmed over'.

Wrapped up in a blanket that did absolutely nothing to help ward off the burning, empty feeling throwing up left behind, Leora considered just going back to sleep.

Instead, she swallowed the saliva that had pooled in her mouth, suppressing a shudder at the wave of queasiness that caused, and pulled the blanket tighter as she watched the boys finish roasting the rabbit over the fire.

A rabbit they were  _burning_  because they decided to watch her instead of the rabbit, like they were afraid she was going to keel over any second, which frankly, might actually happen.

Her head was pounding, her vision was slightly off and blurry in a way she couldn't really explain, and she was vaguely amazed at being alive.

She wasn't sure if it was worth it.

The chunk of rabbit shoved under her nose sent another roll of nausea through her, but she accepted the leg, nibbling on it slowly to make sure her stomach could handle it.

The boys glared daggers at her every time she tried to push the meat away so not eating wasn't an option despite how much she  _really_  didn't want the food.

Leora still couldn't tell if she was hungry.

"So…" Tsuna piped up after scarfing down his portion, scooting over so he was directly across from Leora. Kyouya got up from his spot and joined them, sitting to Tsuna's left.

Grasping his ankles and drawing them closer to his body, Tsuna gave Leora a nervous once over, "Leora, are you sure you're feeling okay?"

Leora pulled the blanket tighter. "If I said yes would you believe me?"

"Not…not really." Tsuna admitted, "I mean, you're acting better than you have in a while, but I've never seen you like-" Tsuna gestured helplessly at her with his hands, "- _this_  before."

"Like  _what_?" Sick?

"Weak." Kyouya supplied, tossing aside the bones he'd been gnawing on to give them his full attention. Leora's eyebrows furrowed.

"I've always been weak." She pointed out, confused. Tsuna started flailing.

" _What_?" he squawked, "You've  _never_  been weak. You saved me from those bullies and those scary men at the village, you have knives and you know how to fight, you've been teaching  _me_  how to fight and a lot of other things and you spar with Hibari and  _win_ -"

"How many times have you actually seen me throw a punch?" Leora cut in, ending Tsuna's rant. "Really think about it. How many times have you seen me actually hit something?"

"You hit those bullies at the park." Tsuna said tentatively. Leora held up a finger.

"I hit one person who didn't even hit back. Only one. When else?"

"You threw Hibari?" Tsuna offered after a minute.

"That's not hitting. That's dodging."

"You hit me during our sparing." Kyouya offered, lips twisting up into a grimace at the thought.

"Only after you pinned me," Leora countered, "And I can count the number of times I did that on one hand. I never  _actually_  attacked you and there is a very good reason for that."

Leora looked them both in the eyes.

"I'm not a good fighter."

"You spar with us." Kyouya argued.

"I  _dodge_." Leora repeated, putting emphasis on the word, "You said it yourself that the first morning I met you in the park. I may know the forms and stances for performance purposes, but in an actual fight, I suck. Tsuna has better fighting instinct than I do. I never try to  _win_  an actual fight. I try to  _get_   _away_."

Tsuna look like she had just told him Santa and the Easter Bunny weren't real, and ice-cream as a whole was being discontinued for the rest of eternity.

"B-but… you're-"

"I'm not some kind of superhero that can beat all the bad guys and knows all the answers." Leora scrubbed a hand over her face tiredly. "I'm tiny, and female, and just trying to survive. I've never been  _strong_. I've been  _stubborn_."

The silence in the wake of that declaration was deafening.

Closing her eyes and huddling farther into herself, Leora absently wondered about the rolling ball of nausea that had wedged itself in her gut. Partly from feeling sick she knew, but not entirely.

Shame. Self-disgust. Fear. Worry. All rolled into a rolling pile of snakes that sat in the pit of her stomach.

The last time she had felt that combination of emotions had been with Master Philip.

He had been disappointed in her. With her failure to socialize like he had wanted her to do. She had been overwhelmed, all the voices talking over each other unsure of which one to pay attention too, and ran away to the high-wire to curl up on a platform.

He had been understanding, telling her that it was fine and would take time, that she didn't have to get used to it all at once, but he couldn't completely hide his disappointment with her.

Somehow, with Tsuna – Tsuna, Tsuna, it was always  _Tsuna_  - the feeling was ten times worse.

Leora didn't want to disappoint him, every part of her  _rebelling_  against the very idea of somehow disappointing him in a way she couldn't comprehend.

He was a main character, a boy, a Sky with a destiny, but at the same time  _so_   _much_   _more_.

He  _deserved_  more.

More than a broken carney.

And that made her feel worse than she ever had before, in a way she couldn't describe, didn't understand.

"That's fine." Snapping her eyes open, Leora stared uncomprehendingly at the boy across from her. Tsuna shared a look with Kyouya, something passing between them that had them both nodding, before Tsuna focused back on her.

"If you're not strong. That's fine." He said matter-of-factly. "You're trying you're best, and that's good enough." He shot her a grin, small, bright, radiating acceptance and comfort and  _it's okay_  in a way that made her breath hitch. "Hibari is strong. And I've gotten stronger. Together we'll be okay."

Scooting over so he was in the space between Leora and Kyouya he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her into his side so he could prop his chin on her head.

"So you don't have to be strong. Just rely on us a bit more, okay?"

Leora couldn't help it. She laughed.

It wasn't a nice laugh; watery, rough from stomach acid and bile, and tinged with hysteria that had Tsuna holding her tighter as she buried her face in his shoulder.

"You're…you're something else, Tsuna." Leora mumbled into his shoulder and she could feel him smiling into her hair.

"That's a good thing though, right?"

Weight settled against Leora's back and another head leaned against hers.

"We're going to spar everyday when we're back in Namimori, and you  _will_  be fighting back." Kyouya declared, not even bothering to move from his lounging position so he could turn and look at her.

Leora laughed harder.

* * *

Once the hysterics had calmed down some, Tsuna finally relinquished the hold he had on Leora's waist so he could shove more food at her.

Apparently, she had been giving them all the food and barely eating herself for the last week, which was a surprise for Leora. She remembered it, but it took conscious effort to do so.

It was the same for the memories for the last week..

"Do you remember the fire thing?" Kyouya asked as Tsuna shoved another piece of meat in her mouth.

Gnawing on a piece of cartilage, Leora shifted through her foggy memories.

She remembered getting to the village. Tsuna wanted to run in, but they decided to steal what they needed instead, just to be safe. They split up once it was late enough, Leora on her own and Tsuna with Kyouya. She remembered trying to steal a horse. Then…

Leora spit out her food.

"YOU WENT FLAME ACTIVE!" She howled, pointing a finger between the two.

Leora was left reeling, gapping at the two boys in front of her because they had gone active, both of them, even  _Tsuna,_  which meant the seal must be  _gone_  and  _this changed everything_.

Tsuna looked strangely relieved at her outburst.

Kyouya narrowed his eyes, "You know what the flames are."

"I, ah, y-yeah, I do." She stuttered, brain a few steps behind her mouth as she blurted out, "Dying Will Flames."

Kyouya looked pleased, leaning forward in obvious interest. Tsuna had paled.

"W-what _? Dying_  Will Flames?"

Leora raised her hands, trying to physical push down the building hysteria across from her. Hopefully, it would do something about her own.

"You're not going to  _die_." Leora assured, mouth once again running away from her, "It's called Dying Will Flames because it usually emerges when your  _about_  to die, but don't. You have regrets, and a will to keep living. It's… Basically, you're too stubborn to die." She finished awkwardly. Burying her hands in her hair, Leora hunched over, desperately searching for the right words to describe what those flames actually meant.

"It's everything you are," Leora muttered, thinking back on another explanation she had heard before, "It's your fear and regret, determination, a will to keep  _living_  despite all odd being against you so you can  _protect_ , either yourself or someone else. It's the fire of your soul given physical form."

Their eyes had gotten wider as she spoke, enraptured by the words she stuttered over, and awe shining in their eyes as they tore their gazes away from her to stare at their hands.

"It's our soul…" Tsuna breathed, honest to god stars in his eyes.

Kyouya pried his eyes away from his hands to look back at Leora. "They were different colors." He pointed out, getting right to the point.

"That because there are different types." Leora explained hesitantly, pulling the blanket closer, unsure if she should be the one explaining this. "Officially, there are fourteen."

Kyouya quirked an eyebrow, "And unofficially?"

Leora's response was a brittle smile. "Fifteen."

"What are they?" Tsuna asked, hands once again grasping his ankles and his eyes eager.

Screwing her eyes shut, Leora took a deep breath, trying to calm the frantic beating of her heart and the ice starting to flow through her veins.

She couldn't feign ignorance. She couldn't get out of this. She had to explain.

But what if she did it wrong? What if this explanation somehow ruined everything for the future?

Well, a little late to be worrying about that now she supposed.

"They're broken off into two branches: Dying Will Flames of the Sky, which is the most common and what you have," She said slowly, hesitantly, "and Dying Will Flames of the Earth. Each group had seven Flame types and each Flame has its own characteristics."

"There are seven Flame types for your branch." Leora went on, ticking them off on her fingers. "Sky, Storm, Rain, Sun, Cloud, Mist, and Lightening. They-"

"What do we have?" Kyouya interrupted, impatient and eager in a way only kids could be that Leora couldn't help but smile, albeit a small one.

"You-" pointing at Kyouya, "have Cloud Flames, and you-"pointing at Tsuna, "have Sky Flames, which could be why we were kidnapped. Both of those Flame types are rare."

She wasn't going to even mention Iemitsu and Vongola. She might not be able to get out of this talk but she wasn't going to touch  _that_  particular can of worms with a ten-foot pole.

Tsuna frowned, "But you said we didn't have them unless we were in situations when we were about to die." He mused aloud, "How would they know we had those types of Flames?

Leora shrugged, "Flame hunting isn't as uncommon as it sounds with how powerful Flame abilities can be. It's probably not that uncommon that they would have ways to identify Flames before they go active."

At least that's what had been the theory based on the various fanfictions.

"Explain." Kyouya ordered, crossing his arms over his chest and narrowing his eyes.

Leora sagged, folding in on herself, suddenly feeling a million times older than her eighteen years as she opened her mouth.

Leora didn't stutter as much as she thought she would, the words seemingly flowing out of her mouth with practiced ease. She went from topic to topic, explaining the names, traits, and characteristics of each flame. She explained the polarities of each time, and how that affected their personalities and instincts. She explained the role of a Sky, how they offered a home to the others in a set when they bonded. She explained how bonded flames would feel their Sky, exchange thoughts and feelings through the bond between their souls.

The boys listened quietly, neither asking questions or making comments until Tsuna shyly asked why they hadn't heard about these Flames before.

They weren't nearly as quiet once she explained about secret societies and the criminal underworld.

"Wait,  _what_?!" Tsuna shrieked, looking horrified, "Like the yakuza? Like the  _mafia_? I don't want to be a criminal!"

"If only the criminal underworld is supposed to know about it," Kyouya cut it, stopping Tsuna's rant so he could pin Leora with steely eyes, "How do  _you_  know about it?"

The implied,  _you're one of them_  hanging in the air between them had Leora going rigid.

"I am  _not_  apart of any criminal organization." She said coldly.

"Then how do you know about it?" Kyouya demanded. "If it's such a big secret that only the underworld knows about it,  _how_  do  _you_? What does  _that_  make  _you_?"

"A carney." She snapped out irritably, making both boys blink in confusion.

"What's a… carney? Did I say it right?" Tsuna asked, looking back and forth between the other two in case someone corrected him.

"It's another word for a person who works for a circus. The reason why I speak so many languages and know everything I've been teaching you guys is because I grew up in a circus. We traveled between countries a lot so we needed to know what was going on in each country." Leora shrugged, "Finding out the seedier side of things kind of went hand in hand since newspapers don't cover everything so most of our information came from bars."

"Wow, really?" Tsuna was practically bouncing where he sat. "A circus? What's it like? Why haven't you mentioned this before and when can we go see a show?"

"There haven't been any circuses in Namimori. They would have had to go to Father and the police for a permit and I haven't heard anything about it." Kyouya pointed out dryly and Leora hid a wince.

More of a full body flinch, but details.

"I said I grew up with a circus. I didn't say I still lived with one."

"Did your parents not want to be part of a circus anymore?"

She really couldn't avoid it anymore could she?

"I don't have parents, Tsuna. The circus picked me up off the street when I was about five. And I don't live with the circus because the circus doesn't exist anymore."

Tsuna stared at her blankly. Kyouya's eyes lit up with understanding.

"What happened?"

"Fire." Leora bit out, hunching in on herself further, "I'm the only one left."

"What?" Tsuna asked. He was ignored.

"Where are you living now?"

"I found a pretty cheap apartment that was in a bad enough part of town that they'd rent to a kid."

"What?"

"How are you paying for it?"

"Pickpocketing drunken businessmen mostly. I got a tutoring job recently for acrobatics some mornings, but it doesn't pay much."

" _What?_ "

Kyouya glared. "You said you weren't a criminal."

"I said I wasn't part of a criminal organization." Leora corrected, "And it was either pickpocket or keep sleeping under bridges and on roof tops."

" _WHAT?_ "

"What do you mean what?" Leora asked, giving Tsuna a flat look, "The first time I met you I looked like a homeless person and I told you I fell in the river. I'm still wearing your clothes because I don't have any others, clothes which  _you gave me_  the first time I ended up at your house. I didn't even have any  _shoes_  that day. Did it never occur to you that I was a homeless person?"

Going by the gaping, horrified look, Leora was going with a resounding 'no'.

"When we get back to Namimori, you are showing me where you live so I can add it to my patrol."

"She's not going back to that apartment at all!" Tsuna exclaimed, red faced and glaring. He pointed a finger at Leora. "You're moving in with me."

"No." Leora deadpanned.

"Yes." Tsuna hissed.

"There are two chances of me moving in with you – slim and none, and slim left town.  _No_."

"No isn't an option!"

"But it's still my answer!"

"She can live with me if there's a problem with your den, little animal."

" _No_. Glaring at me isn't going to get me to change my mind, Kyouya. You're not that scary. My answer, to both of you, is still no."

"You said it's in a bad part of town!" Tsuna argued.

"No other part of town would rent to a kid instead of calling the cops."

"You have to steal to pay rent!"

"How is that any different from us stealing from that village a few days ago?"

"We nearly died! And if you'd move in with me then you wouldn't have to risk it!"

"For the last time,  _no_. Your mother gives me the creeps."

Giving out a choked off shriek of rage Tsuna strangled the air in front of him, hands twitching in Leora's direction. Deciding that wasn't satisfying he went to pulling at his hair, mumbling curses Leora remembered spewing on her first – and last – day of school.

She hadn't realized he had been paying attention.

Taking a deep breath, Tsuna pried his fingers out of his hair before he could rip any of his out as he exhaled.

Wordlessly he got up to put out the remains of the fire, kicking at the dirt more than was necessary to smother it before collecting their bags. He shoved one in Kyouya's direction and threw another at Leora's face.

"We will talk about this later." He promised, looking just shy of murder, "Once we are home and no longer being chased by criminal hunters, we  _will_  talk about this. But for now, we are going to follow that road," he pointed off to the right like he was trying to stab something with his finger, "And you are going to tell us stories about living with the circus so I can think about  _that_  instead just how  _angry_  I am with you."

Leora's face pinched in confusion. "Wait, why are you angry with-"

"Just shup up walk!"

"But… I thought you  _wanted_  me to talk?"

Tsuna's wordless scream of frustration easily drowned out Kyouya's laughter.

Leora was still confused.

* * *

Stomping along several meters away from the road so they could still stay out of sight and no one could ask a couple of kids why they were out on a highway by themselves, and not even trying to be quiet about it, Tsuna practiced those breathing exercises Leora had taught him months ago and focused more on the girls' voice behind him than where he was leading everyone.

He was still angry. Furious.

Leora didn't have a home or a family anymore, didn't have any clothes of her own, was living in a bad part of town because she didn't have any other choice after being homeless for so long and he was so  _stupid_  it was probably why she knew how to survive outside like they were and she was having to steal just to get by and she  _didn't tell him._

It took getting kidnapped and nearly killed for her to tell him and now she wasn't going to live with him so he could take care of her and was going to keep living in a place that wasn't safe and  _why the hell was she being so goddamn stubborn-_!

What was worse was he  _hadn't even noticed_.

It had been  _months_  since he first met her.

Tsuna was an idiot.

Biting back a snarl Tsuna shook his head violently as Kyouya gave a warning growl and a surge of annoyance from their knew bond, not happy with all the emotions Tsuna kept bombarding him with.

They would talk about it later.

Talk not really being the word because once they were back in Namimori Leora was going to be living with him even if he had to drag her there kicking and screaming and lock her in a closet.

Pushing the anger away Tsuna focused on the stories Leora was telling them about her time with her family.

She had been hesitant, not sure if she should or where to start, before Hib- Kyouya – he was supposed to call him Kyouya now, the older boy had starting hitting him if he kept calling him Hibari now that they were 'pack' – had just told her to start from the beginning.

So she did.

She talked about living on the streets for a while before the circus found her, though she didn't go into much detail. She talked about Master Philip,  _Amma_  Eva and  _Afi_  Viktor,  _Sifu_  Yaozu, Finn, and everyone else that she had grown attached to over the years and considered family.

She talked about learning acrobatics and slight-of-hand tricks. How to tumble and perform in front of a crowd. How to throw things, like her knives.

She talked about the fun parts and the scary parts and sometimes the just plain weird parts.

Tsuna could hear the smile in her voice even if he couldn't see it on her face.

The circus sounded crazy if he was being honest. Leora had mentioned more stories of mess ups and chaos than he had ever though was possible; fights and drinking, equipment problems, arguments yelled at each other from across stalls, and prank wars when things couldn't be settled, and picking up random weirdos in almost every place they traveled.

Even Leora seemed to think it was crazy, having mentioned running off to the trapezes or high wires so she could get away from everything happening at least once a week to the point someone would have to get her down.

So living with a circus meant living with crazy.

The more he heard Leora talk the more he thought putting up with all the crazy might be worth it.

It sounded…oddly nice.

The way Leora described it, the circus was more than a place with animals, shows, and clowns like he had always assumed.

It was a place for anyone who wanted one, even if it was only for a while. A place to feel welcome and accepted no matter your problems or issues. A 'Be Safe' if you ever left and a 'Welcome Back' if you ever decided to return, no matter how long it took.

It sounded like a  _home_.

Tsuna wanted that. He wanted it so badly something in him  _ached_.

Tsuna loved his Mama and he knew she loved him too, but…She didn't defend him like the other mama's did with their kids at school. She didn't believe him about being bullied. And even she called him Dame every now and then.

Tsuna loved his Mama and their house, but it wasn't  _home_. It hadn't been for a while.

He wanted what Leora had lost and talked about with more positive emotion than he had ever heard from her. Wanted to be surrounded by the crazy, and the weird, and everything else in between.

And if a circus was how he could get it, then a circus he was going to join.

Leora was already teaching him what she learned at the circus, so he was already ahead in that area. He'd just have to work harder and ask more question so he could get all the little details he would need to make this work.

Maybe get another tattoo. One that was bigger than the coin sized ink already on his wrist he'd gotten a few days before his birthday. Leora had a lot of them, so it must be pretty common in the circus, right?

Getting Leora and Kyouya to join a circus with him might be a problem, but he had a few years to convince them both. Kyouya would be the hardest, but Leora obviously missed it so it shouldn't be hard on that end. If he was going to have a home, he was going to have his family with him.

He'd add it to the list of things he needed to talk to Leora about when they got home, right after his best friend's living situation, what her Flame was because with how angry he was he had forgotten to ask, and why didn't she bond with him like Kyouya did?

They were family, so shouldn't they have a bond too?

 _Mine~_  a part of him purred in response, sending warmth through his chest and down his arms and legs, pushing away the tired, achy feeling that had made them start to tremble.

' _Mine',_  Tsuna agreed.

* * *

**So, I decided to cram some foreshadowing into this chapter. I'll leave it up to you guys to decide what those are.**

**If Tsuna having a tattoo is new to anyone and explanation is in Star of the Circus side story Star of the Circus:Sideshows.**

**Enjoy guys.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Star of the Circus**

**Chapter 21**

* * *

_I'm not a good tourist. I don't like tourism._

_Joe Sacco_

* * *

"Is hitchhiking always this easy?" Tsuna wondered aloud, shuffling around a bit to get better situated between the cages of chickens he was wedged between.

Whacking the lone goat so he would hopefully stop trying to eat her hair, Leora gave a shrug. "I have no idea. Never hitchhiked before. But if I had to bet on it, I'd say no."

"We are not doing this again." Kyouya grunted, stubbornly  _not_  looking at the noisy cage of pigs he was sitting next to. "Ever."

"Beggars can't really be choosers." Leora pointed out, scooting further away from the goat. "We're lucky enough that this guy was stupid enough to believe our bullshit."

" _Your_  bullshit." An annoyed huff, "I really need to learn Chinese." Tsuna muttered sullenly, a cloud of doom forming around his head at the reminder that he had had no clue what that conversation was about until Leora had translated.

Leora threw a handful of hay at him.

"Stop sulking. You helped enough by getting the guys attention."

"I tripped and fell down the hill onto the road in front of his truck. I nearly  _died_."

"But you  _didn't_  and we got a ride out of it. You helped."

"Are you sure we can trust this man, little animal?" Kyouya asked, giving in and moving so he was away from the pigs and pressed arm to arm with Leora, scowling the whole time. Leora patted his head in sympathy. Kyouya tried to bite her.

Kyouya may be more openly receptive to physical touch than he was in Namimori – which was  _leagues_  above how he was in the manga – but being crammed in an enclosed space with about fifty animals and their cages along with three people was pushing it, even if he did like the humans.

Tsuna nodded.

"I'm pretty sure."

"No weird feeling or voice in your head telling you otherwise?" Leora pressed, because they really couldn't risk another incident like their original kidnapping.

His face went flat. "No. And stop saying it like that. You make it sound like I'm crazy."

Leora tilted her head. "We're all mad here." she informed him solemnly, not bothering to duck the fistful of hay chucked at her.

"And stop quoting things I don't know."

"Throw something at me again, little animal, and I  _will_  hit you." Kyouya growled, spitting out the hay that had gotten in his mouth from the poor assault. Tsuna flailed.

"But I wasn't aiming at you!"

"Poor aim is not an excuse."

"My aim is not that bad!"

"If you two start chasing each other in here all the animals are going to get loose," Leora pointed out mildly, lips twisting up slightly as the two boys froze, "It'll be chaos. Kyouya will probably put a hole in the side while Tsuna will set something on fire. We wouldn't be able to explain it without proving you  _can_  set yourselves on fire which could scare the farmer. The farmer would get mad at us for all the chaos and then we would never get the food and hot bath he was going to provide."

All of which was bullshit, this guy was dumb enough to believe pigs could fly as long as it was said respectfully, but it was funny watching their reactions.

Bath was apparently the magic word because while they both had been still before, the mention of losing their much-anticipated bath time had them locking up, faces set into comical expressions that only anime characters could pull off, before slowly settling back into their seats.

Sulking, Kyouya decided that napping would be a better way to pass the time than talking to the other humans sharing his space. Flopping over so he was using Leora's lap as a pillow the Cloud dropped off damn near immediately, which was frankly impressive with how bumpy and noisy the trailer was.

Deciding to follow Kyouya's example Tsuna crawled over so he could lean against Leora's shoulder, because the brat couldn't go for more than an hour without some form of physical affection.

Leora gave a twitch at the contact but didn't bother commenting on it.

Commenting lead to smothering.

"Where are we heading again?" Tsuna asked once he had gotten comfortable enough.

"A city called Chengdu… eventually. It's going to take at least two days. So out of Tibet and back into China proper."

"Is that a good idea?"

"I honestly don't know." Leora admitted, "I had originally planned on taking us through India but if you feel going back through China is the way to go, then it's probably the best way."

"I don't know anything either." Tsuna reminded her nervously, to which Leora just shrugged. As much as she was able to anyway.

"You still have better instincts and they haven't proven to be wrong yet."

"Walking back into a place that could be full of Chinese criminals who might also want to kidnap us seems pretty wrong to me."

"Then we'll just stay out of sight." Leora dismissed, shuffling around a bit. Her legs were starting to go numb but she wasn't sure if it would be a good idea to actually pick Kyouya's head up. He had a habit of punching first, and with his Cloud flames propagating the force behind his hits Leora was likely to lose her head or break a couple of ribs for trying.

"How do you do it?"

"Do what?" Leora replied absently, tensing her legs to try to get some blood flow back into them.

"Stay out of sight. You said you stole money from people to pay your rent," Tsuna reminded, aggravation creeping into his voice before he forcibly pushed it away, "How do you not get caught?"

"There's a lot more to it than just 'not getting caught'." Leora replied after a moment's pause. "And pickpocketing is a different scenario than what we're going to be doing."

Tsuna jabbed her in the ribs with his elbow. "You're still not answering the question."

Leora stared back flatly, "I've created a monster."

"The monster wants his question answered." Tsuna shot back, smiling happily, albeit sleepily, and completely unrepentant. Brat.

"Rooftops." She informed him blandly, causing Tsuna to blink in surprise, "When moving around town when I'm not with you or Kyouya I stick to the rooftops."

Tsuna frowned, "Isn't that dangerous?"

"Trained acrobat, remember? I've got the strength and the balance so it's actually safer than if I just walked on the street.

"Like a normal person?" the little Sky snarked back.

"Normal is an illusion." Leora drawled, "What is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly. And if you're this cranky just go to sleep already. I'll take first watch."

Tsuna's cheeks puffed up in outrage and he looked like he was debating whether or not he should follow Kyouya's example and bite whatever he could reach.

"Seriously Tsuna, just go to sleep. It'll make this ride go a lot faster."

"Promise you'll wake me up when you get tired?" he asked eventually, slurring slightly and wiggling around a bit to make himself more comfortable leaning against the carney, barely able to keep his eyes from drooping shut.

Leora barely held back a snort.

She was  _always_  tired.

"I'll wake you up when I need some sleep."

Tsuna managed to crack open an eye, "Promise?"

Leora leaned her head against his instead of answering.

* * *

"You didn't wake me up." Tsuna accused crankily, pouting once they'd finally arrived at the farmer's house and helped unload the animals. The boys had slept like the dead for the five hours it had taken them to arrive and had only woken up because the squeal of rusty hinges was loud enough to practically dig spikes into their ears.

"I didn't need to sleep." Leora waved off, because really, she didn't. She was used to running on practically nothing by now.

Tsuna wasn't convinced. "You look like you're about to keel over and  _die_."

"Thank you for reminding me that I look like shit. I had honestly forgotten." Leora quipped dryly, sending the boy a withering look. Tsuna had the decency to wince even if he didn't really look guilty. "Besides, you needed to sleep more than I did."

"You look worse than we do."

"Well yeah, but I'm older and I'm used to this. You're not."

"You need to rest properly." Kyouya cut in, voice booking no argument and narrowing his eyes as he clamped a hand down on Leora's shoulder, careful to grab mostly the fabric of her shirt. "You  _will_  be sleeping."

"I was planning on it. Just not when we were in the back of a strange man's trailer with no real idea where we were going."

"But we can trust him." Tsuna argued.

"I trust your intuition." The carney reassured, "But I'd rather not take stupid risks. I'll sleep once we secure where we're going to be sleeping and take a bath." Leora rubbed absently at her chest before reaching up to rub at her eyes. "Hopefully the bath will be warm." She muttered under her breath, barely loud enough for the two boys to hear, but they  _did_  hear it.

They tensed, exchanging a look, nodded, and then Kyouya was hauling Leora over his shoulder like a sack of rice and carrying her into the house the farmer went into, Tsuna half a step behind him.

Leora went ridged.

"What the  _fuck_  do you think you're doing?"

"You are tired."

"I can walk." Leora gritted out. Kyouya ignored her.

"You're still recovering, Leora." Tsuna reminded while Kyouya talked to the farmer in Mandarin, who didn't seem to have a problem with the boy carrying someone else around. "It's best if you don't push yourself too hard."

"The house was only  _seven_   _meters_  away."

Tsuna smiled. "But it feels a lot farther when you're tired, right?"

Tsuna might not have been able to understand the slew of German that poured out of Leora's mouth, but he knew it wasn't nice or happy.

Tsuna's smile got more innocent.

"The bath house is around back." Kyouya reported, already heading out the door with Tsuna trailing after him. "His wife has already heated water for us."

"It's going to be great to finally get clean." Tsuna added in his two cents, eagerly bouncing on the balls of his feet.

There was no sign of his previous embarrassment from when Nana had made the two take a bath together, Leora noted. With Kyouya's animal obsession, the Skylark probably wouldn't care who he was bathing with as long as they didn't crowd him too much.

Leora didn't particularly care who saw her naked – even as an adult she didn't have much of a sense of body shyness, which drove  _Amma_  Eva insane – but she did care about her privacy.

Very little of it remained since they'd gotten kidnapped, and now that the boys were intent on bathing together, Leora just felt resigned.

The two of them were clingy now that their flames were active and Leora didn't see that stopping anytime soon.

It was only a matter of time before Kyouya found her apartment back in Namimori – if she even still had one by the time they got back. She knows she missed her rent and the bitch she was paying didn't seem like the lenient type – Leora could kiss her privacy goodbye.

She still refused to live with Tsuna.

Spending the night every now and then was okay, but if Tsuna tried to push it the closest his ass was getting to her was the distance between the street and a roof.

* * *

"We still smell like animals." Kyouya grouched, glaring down at his clothes.

"Well what else did you expect?" Leora asked, not looking up from the money she was counting, "We never got a chance to do laundry and we had to ride in the trailer again to get to this city."

"We should have stolen more clothes."

"Wouldn't that have attracted more attention?" Tsuna piped up, counting out his own pile of money after Leora showed him how Chinese currency worked.

"We stand out with the clothes we're wearing now." Leora pointed out, "I'm obviously foreign and we're all dressed like we're straight out of Tibet."

"We did come straight out of Tibet."

"Which isn't a good thing. Kyouya's right, we do need new clothes but I'm not sure how we're going to get them." Leora admitted, mouth twisting down at the corners in annoyance.

"We can, you know,  _buy_  them?" Tsuna offered, waving his portion of money in the air for emphasis. Kyouya shot that idea down pretty quickly.

"We would have to go into a store to buy clothes and people would take notice of our appearances. Stealing would be a better option."

"Unless you see any kids around our size to mug, it's not an option at all." Leora countered, still not looking up from the money, "Wearing bad fitting adult clothing would make us stand out even more. And again, I'm not Asian. I'm going to stand out either way."

"So, we'll need to cover your face?"

"Face and hair. Curly hair isn't really a thing in Asia, so my rats' nest will give me away faster than my face will. Your hair isn't exactly subtle either Tsuna, so we should probably get you a hat or something too."

"And how are we going to get the hats?"

"From the idiots that noticed us counting money and thought it would be a good idea to try and rob us." Leora informed him blandly, finally looking up to stare balefully towards the mouth of the alley they were squatting in.

Hastily shoving his money into a pocket, Tsuna whipped his head around at the same time Kyouya detached himself from the wall to stand in front of the other two, hands in his pockets.

Leora wasn't wrong, there were about five teenagers blocking the alley. Two of them were smoking, three of them were wearing hats, all of them wearing smug, mean smiles that Tsuna automatically linked to his bullies back in Namimori.

Nothing was telling him that they were dangerous, not like back in the woods.  _Mild-threat-Cloud-here-no-danger-_  was all he was getting, but years of being cornered and beaten up had him making himself as small as possible, edging away from the faces that had always meant  _pain_.

That bit of instinctive fear and unease apparently transferred to Kyouya because the older boy head perked up as the rest of him relaxed, feet shifting apart into a now familiar stance as Kyouya glare went up a couple of notches into something that would have had everyone back in Namimori running away screaming in terror or begging for their lives.

Leora went back to counting the money she'd managed to get in the few hours they'd been in Chengdu.

"Keep the screams to a minimum and try not to get blood on their clothes. They're skinny enough we could pass as wearing hand-me-downs as long as we tuck in the extra fabric."

Bloodthirsty glee shot through him – glee that did  _not_  come from Tsuna, no matter how frustrated he was with this entire situation – and Kyouya advanced on the group of delinquents that had no clue their doom was walking towards them.

Tsuna went back to helping count the money.

"Once we change, do you think we could go to an actual restaurant? I'm tired of having to hunt and forage for food."

"Probably not, but I bet we could find some kind of street stall. Can you eat spicy things?"

Sounds of pain and the distinctive tone of begging rang out behind them.

Tsuna wrinkled his nose. "I don't know? I mean, Mama doesn't make spicy things very often."

"You're not going to find much of anything that's not spicy in this region. I guess we'll find out."

"Do you like spicy food?"

"I don't mind it, but I'm not particularly picky. I'll eat anything." Leora paused in her sorting, looking contemplative, "Does Kyouya like spicy food?"

"I have no idea. Hey Kyouya!" Tsuna called out, ignoring the guy Kyouya was holding by the collar, "Do you like spicy food?"

"I can eat it." Kyouya confirmed, before his face screwed up in a scowl. He punched the guy he was holding across the face, knocking him unconscious and making his jaw stick out at a funny angle. "I refuse to each Mapo Tofu."

"Easy enough." Leora mused. Stacking the money, she shoved it behind the holster where she kept her throwing knives.

"Are you almost done, or do you need a few more minutes to vent?"

Kyouya's response was to throw the biggest of the five thugs into a wall.

"We should give him a few more minutes." Tsuna decided, edging away from his violent friend. "He looks like he needs it."

* * *

"Is all Chinese food that spicy?" Tsuna asked. Well, more like garbled. It was hard to tell what he was saying since his tongue was stuck out and he was frantically fanning it.

"You didn't have to eat it." Leora pointed out, still working her way through a serving of pork buns that both boys insisted she eat after she finished off the dan dan noodles she'd gotten first.

She still wasn't  _hungry_ , but she didn't feel completely hollow anymore so she guessed that was a good indicator.

"Stop complaining, little animal." There wasn't any bite or annoyance to the order like the previous times.

Beating the shit out of the thugs in the alleys was apparently cathartic as hell because Kyouya look more content than Leora had seen him in over a week.

Shirts, hats, and their wallets aside, those assholes had been genuinely useful for something.

That contentment must have spread to Tsuna because the same could be said for him.

He looked happy. Bright. Like they were back in Namimori in the park instead of the middle of China on the run and by themselves. He wasn't bringing flowers and sparkles into existence yet but it was close. There was also the fact that over the last couple of days, as far as Tsuna was concerned, Kyouya could do no wrong

Leora was blaming that on his Harmony and new bond with the Cloud. Potentially anime bullshit, but she would put money on the bond.

She's only seen this level of contentment and Zen under circumstances as crazy as this when that person was higher than a fucking kite on a windy day.

"I don't think I'll be able to taste things for a while." Tsuna muttered, but obligingly stuck his tongue back in his mouth. Then he blinked curious eyes between the Skylark and the carney.

"Anyone have an idea what we do now?"

"Get to a port." Kyouya supplied without hesitation, sticking one of his own pork buns in his mouth and scowling when the juice dribbled down his chin. Leora passed him a napkin.

"I know that, but how do we get there." Tsuna helped himself to one of Kyouya's bun while he was distracted and positioned himself on the other side of Leora, pretending he didn't hear the way Kyouya was growling and happily chewing on his treat. "I don't think we could hitchhike the whole way."

"We are  _not_  hitchhiking again."

"I agree with Kyouya." Leora cut it before Kyouya could take a swipe at Tsuna's head, placing one of her buns in with Kyouya's basket to placate the little shit. "We might've gotten lucky but it's still a stupid risk."

Tsuna thought it over for a bit. "We could take a taxi?"

Kyouya snorted, "Not across the whole country."

"We should be able to get a bus." Leora mused.

She'd been to Chengdu in her world. It had been pretty good business even if it had made  _Sifu_  Yaozu twitchy. Master Philip had insisted everyone learn the bus and plane routes to get close to their final destination in Hangzhou just in case their trucks decided to cock up. Again.

If things transferred over between dimensions there should be an international commerce city bus station that could take them to Zhejiang. From there they could take a taxi to Hangzhou if they didn't mind paying through the nose for it, which would put them relatively close to Japan.

Either way they  _were_  going to be paying a shit-ton for it and they needed more cash.

"Getting the money we need will take a few days unless we get stupid lucky – bus tickets are cheaper than plane tickets but they still aren't  _cheap_  Tsuna – but I'm pretty sure we could take an international bus to get to a port city."

"So we just keep pickpocketing people?" Tsuna summarized, and he didn't sound even remotely upset about their means of getting money unlike a few days ago, which didn't make much sense to Leora.

She decided she wasn't going to question it. It may confuse the hell out of her but it was so much easier to just not question it. Like just about everything else in this shit show of a dimension.

So she shrugged. "Basically. It might attract attention like earlier, but Kyouya can keep beating the thugs half to death so we can rob them blind. We can't do it too often so we don't draw the attention of the Triads, but a few odd incidents should be okay."

Kyouya's grin was vicious, full of teeth, anticipation, and bloodlust, eyes flashing purple as he ripped open another pork bun.

In comparison, Tsuna's simple eager grin, like a kid about to enter an amusement part, seemed even more intimidating.

"The sooner we get the money the sooner we can get home." Tsuna practically fucking  _chirped_ , "So what are we waiting for?"

Leora was definitely blaming this on the bond.

Higher than a fucking kite, the both of them.


	22. Chapter 22

**Star of the Circus**

**Chapter 22**

* * *

_It's like being a newborn, this sudden sensory overload of noise, color, smells, and gravity after months of quietly floating, encased in relative calm and isolation. No wonder babies cry in protest when they are born._

_Chris Hadfield_

* * *

Leora could feel her eye twitch and the veins on her temples throb in time with her heartbeat. Normally, such an anime characteristic would freak her out and snap her out of whatever it was that had caused the incident, but right now could be the exception. She  _wanted_  this dumb motherfucker to know  _exactly_  what she thought of this situation.

" _Tsunayoshi_."

The little bastard refused to make eye contact, instead fidgeting in his seat as he stared at his hands.

"Y-yes?"

"What did I say was the most important thing we were  _not_  supposed to do while we worked on getting money?" Tsuna hunched in on himself.

"Attract attention?"

"And  _what_  did you do?" Tsuna somehow managed to make himself even smaller.

"Attract attention…" He answered meekly, turning big, watery eyes at her. Begging forgiveness and apology like he didn't just put a major target on their backs. "I'm sorry?"

A few more threads of Leora's patience frayed and broke with a resounding  _snap_.

"I should string you up by your intestines and  _choke you_  with them, you fire brained douchenozzled twig midget! How the ever-loving  _fuck_  did you manage this?"

"HIEEEEE, I'm so sorry I didn't mean too!"

"Didn't mean to my ass! You walked right into a back alley bar that looked sketchier than an American crack house and started gambling! What the hell were you thinking?"

"You're the one who said to always follow my intuition! And besides, I won!"

"That's not a good thing, you little fuckwit! They want their money back!"

"But I won fair and square!"

" _Fair_? What part of the word  _criminal_  do you not understand?" Leora demanded incredulously, "Do you really think they give two shits about  _fair_? The point of gambling is for you to  _lose_  to them and then pay interest on your debts. Cleaning them out – and how the fuck did you even  _manage_  that – is the equivalent of standing on top of Tokyo Tower in a thunderstorm, wearing plate armor, and screaming 'All the Gods are bastards!' and now they want your head on a spike!" Leora hissed, "Are you  _trying_ to get killed?"

A growl. "The herbivores should know their place."

"You are not  _helping_ , Kyouya."

"I said I was sorry!"

"We're having to hide in a goddamn drainage pipe.  _Sorry_  isn't going to cut it."

"At least… I got enough money for the bus tickets?"

The look Leora leveled him with could have melted concrete.

Tsuna scooted further behind a scowling Kyouya.

"I'll shut up now."

* * *

It took about an hour before Leora calmed down enough to not be so frustrated with him.

It wasn't that obvious, but her face didn't seem as hard after a while and her eyes melted from chips of black ice to their normal coffee.

Lukewarm coffee, but still better than frozen.

She also stopped holding herself perfectly still and started rubbing her thumb against her nails as she stared off into space, thinking.

(A part of Tsuna added another note to his list of things that made up Leora; no movement plus stiff posture plus intense staring and more cursing than normal equals really frustrated and danger (and angry? He still wasn't completely sure like he was with other people. Leora didn't really do  _yelling_. Her voice just got...not flatter, but something else that he didn't have a word for. Like her voice echoed even though she barely spoke louder than she always did. Definitely colder, like her words were carved from ice or something.)

Deeming it safe, Tsuna came out from where he was hiding behind Kyouya to plop down next to where his best friend was standing, offering one of the snacks they'd bought the day before in apology.

"Sorry I made you upset." Leora didn't take it, but she did sit down.

Frowning, Tsuna dumped the snack in her lap. She needed to eat more. He could still count her ribs.

"Just… give me some warning next time?" She asked, rubbing at her eyes and giving in to his silent demand that she eat something. "I probably would have gone along with it if you'd just  _told me_ instead of you just walking into there the minute I had my back turned."

Tsuna blinked in surprise. "You would have actually let me gamble?"

"We gamble all the time back in Namimori even if we don't use money." Leora reminded him bluntly, "I'm teaching you poker remember? I'm not that much of a hypocrite. And if your intuition thinks it's a good idea, why not? But I'd rather know  _beforehand_  so I can mentally prepare myself and we can plan to make sure nothing blows up in our faces. This particular clusterfuck is going to make getting on a bus… difficult."

"I really am sorry." Tsuna rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Once I passed the place it was like my feet had a mind of their own."

"And your hands suddenly knew how to play mahjong?" Leora asked dryly, relaxing the length of her spine into something that looked a bit more comfortable and less like a steel rod.

"No." Tsuna admitted, "I actually just guessed for each round."

Leora twitched. "You…guessed? No help from your intuition?  _At all_?"

"Well, yeah." Shrugging, Tsuna leaned back against the concrete wall. "I can't speak Chinese so I couldn't ask them how to play, but they didn't seem to care after they saw my money. After that I just picked up the same number of tiles they did and placed them out at random. I got a nudge every now and again to know when I won so I could collect the winnings but other than that…" Tsuna trailed off and shrugged.

It had been kind of fun after the first few rounds. Tsuna had finally gotten over his nerves about being surrounded by scary looking men and was able to relax.

The men's faces after he won had gotten redder and redder after each round, and their eyes kept bulging out of their heads was pretty great too.

It was probably kinda mean of him to enjoy it so much.

Tsuna blamed Kyouya.

Leora probably had something to do with it too, but mostly he blamed Kyouya.

Leora's eye twitched again, but she managed to keep her face really still and just stared at Tsuna for a few minutes.

Slowly, like she was stiff, she reached out to grab her bag, pulling it up so it was placed on her updrawn knees and she could bury her face in it.

She didn't stop screaming – much to Tsuna's distress – until Kyouya got tired of the noise and hit her over the head hard enough to knock her over.

The way her face contorted when Tsuna told her about an hour later that his intuition wanted him to keep gambling had Tsuna pushing her bag back in her direction so he could keep screaming if she needed to.

He should be able to keep Kyouya from hitting her again for a few minutes so she could vent a bit more.

She looked like she  _really_  needed it.

Tsuna made a mental note to try to find some place with a trapeze when they got back in Namimori so she could fully relax.

Or at least a really tall place she could attach one of her fabric thingies to. She had looked really happy when she had been hanging from her ankle that one time.

Oh, he should probably keep her away from Mama while he was at it.

* * *

"You want to go to  _another_  gambling den?" Leora repeated for the umpteenth time as they finished setting up a makeshift camp in the drainage pipe for the night, because she had to be sure.

She wasn't just hearing things, right? There was no way Tsuna, who was a coward and a crybaby, would actually want to go into another building filled with seedy looking people to essentially steal their money when they already had plenty and were having enough trouble trying to find a way onto a bus.

Those delusions crashed and burned when Tsuna nodded.

"Your intuition is  _insisting_  on you gambling and potentially getting us killed?"

Tsuna's smile was apologetic. "It is." He tentatively put a hand on her shoulder. "Sorry, Leora."

Leora would eat her knives if Tsuna was  _actually_ sorry.

The old Tsuna - who was scared of everything and never wanted to leave the house might as well not have existed now - would have been sorry.

This new Tsuna was the catalyst for life's attempts to fuck her sideways.

"Is your intuition at least giving you a reason  _why_?"

Tsuna blinked before furrowing his brows in concentration, eyes unfocused and staring at nothing.

He came out of it about thirty seconds later rubbing at his head and confusion plastered across his face.

"Something about attracting the attention of a storm and preparing for when we start filling out the empty hall. Do you know what-"

" _No_ , I don't know what it means and I'm sorry I asked." Leora rubbed at her temples. "Do we need to go gambling  _now_  or can we at least wait until the sun comes up?"

If they had to run for their lives in the dark again – and Leora had a distinct feeling that they  _would_  be running – with her leading the way because she had the best night vision Leora was going to lose it.

Or just put herself out of her misery and be done with it.

Tsuna stared off into space again then nodded. "We can wait until morning."

"Great."

Rummaging through her bag Leora pulled out the bottle of booze she'd originally stolen from the mountain place and chugged what little remained of it. Tossing that bottle over a shoulder to smash against the wall she grabbed the six pack of beer they'd had taken from another group of morons Kyouya had beaten the shit out of and downed two cans before stopping for air and popping the top on the third. Kyouya grabbing the can out of her hand and crushing it kept her from chugging that one too.

Leora stared at the beer dribbling between his fingers in dismay.

"You are not old enough to be drinking." Kyouya said disapprovingly.

"I am in Europe." Leora countered, popping the top of another beer and ducking under Kyouya's attempts to grab it, downing half of it in a few gulps before Kyouya ripped it out of her hands and subjected it to the same fate as the last one.

After a short scuffle Kyouya claimed the rest of the remaining beer and threw it, smashing it into the wall and leaving an indentation in the cement, alcohol exploding out on impact.

If Leora was any more desperate she would've been licking the wall.

Instead she took a deep breath, blew it out, and put as much distance between herself and the two boys as she could before they decided to follow her.

And because they weren't any better than puppies, that distance wasn't more than two meters before they scooted closer to her, Tsuna in concern and Kyouya with the face of a thundercloud.

 _Pun!_ Her brain pointed out, hysterically cheerful, and Leora seriously rethought licking the beer off the wall.

She couldn't take much more of this.

"How often do you drink?"

"Often enough."

Debating with herself whether or not it would be worth it to try to sleep on her own tonight, Leora just gave in to the inevitable and plopped down next to Tsuna, careful to keep a few inches between then until the alcohol kicked in.

"Isn't drinking bad for you?" Tsuna asked tentatively, eyeing the remains of the beer with distaste like he was remembering something bad.

"If you drink too much of it." Pulling out the blanket Leora wrapped it around herself, leaving only her head sticking out. "I'm not an alcoholic if that's what you're worried about. I've gone weeks without it now with no bad side effects."

Granted, she might  _end up_ as an alcoholic if she didn't get some kind of reprieve from this anime bullshit.

"Then why do you drink at all? You're underage." Kyouya demanded, dropping to the floor in what was now their customary three-way seating arrangement.

_Because she was surrounded by crazy and it was either drink to dull things to a more manageable level or beat her head against a wall to keep from completely losing her mind._

"Not in Europe." She repeated instead of answering, adjusting the blanket so it wasn't as tight.

She had seriously thought about it, the whole beating her head against the wall.

Leora could deal well enough in the woods where there wasn't as much noise or activity even if it was stupidly cold for her, but in the city with all the noise and cars and the people trying to corner them in alleys on top of being with Tsuna and Kyouya  _constantly_ …it was getting to be too much, and she didn't have a place to run to and get away from it all like she did in Namimori.

Finding that six-pack had been a blessing, even if she didn't get to drink all of it.

Seeing her explanation didn't make any sense to the boy Leora decided to just be blunt instead of trying to explain that she was actually ten years older than them and perfectly legal drinking wise.

"I'm hypersensitive."

More confused staring, though in Kyouya's case it was more irritated glaring.

Right.

They were nine and eleven.

Hypersensitive didn't mean shit to them.

"Things that are normal for you are usually too much for me." Leora tried, and got a dull spark of understanding. "Sound, smell, and touches that you think are normal are just...too much." She trailed off awkwardly, not really sure how to put it into words. "Just think of Kyouya's hatred of crowding and times it by eleven."

Which wasn't that far off the mark. Being hypersensitive while living with a circus was already stressful on the best of days, but being hypersensitive in a  _anime_ was the equivalent of jumping in the ocean after being skinned alive.

Everything was just so much more  _intense_.

Overpowering.

That explanation got some of the point across, if Kyouya's nod and Tsuna's wince was anything to go by.

"And drinking…helps? Was your family okay with that?" Tsuna asked, then flinched. Leora just shrugged, already starting to feel the buzz as the alcohol crept into her bloodstream and relaxed a bit more.

"Alcohol dulls things. And drinking was their idea in the first place."

Granted, they didn't know about the hypersensitive thing until she was about fifteen, but that just meant she should switch from beers and wines to harder liquors.

It probably violated like a hundred child safety laws but drinking was just something everyone did.

Growing kid? Have a beer. It was safer than the water.

The core members of the circus were old fashioned like that.

The boys didn't look happy, but they didn't look like they were going to have a child's version of an intervention so Leora flopped over to curl up, happy to note the feeling of concrete against her cheek didn't scrap against her nerves as badly as it had over the last couple days since coming to the city.

It was blessedly quiet for a few minutes until Tsuna decided to break it.

"Is that why you don't like being hugged?"

"If I'm not expecting it being touched makes my skin crawl." Leora answered honestly, poking her head out of the blanket just enough for her eyes to be visible. "I'm usually okay with it if I know the person really well, but even then I can usually feel it for at least an hour afterwards."

"So every time I hugged you… it made you really uncomfortable?" Tsuna asked, and to Leora's horror his voice wobbled.

Leora had to fight the urge to scoot away because that would  _definitely_  make things worse.

"It's…fine if I'm expecting it." Leora backpedaled hastily, "I'll still feel it, but if I'm expecting it or if I drink something…it's not so bad? I'm completely okay if I'm expecting it I just-"

Tsuna's eyes were watering.

"You can still hug me! I promise, you can still hug me or whatever, I'm not going to make you stop!"

"But it m-makes you un-uncomfort-table-"

"That's fine! Being uncomfortable is fine!"

"She said it was fine, little animal." Kyouya stressed, looking uncomfortable himself.

"I-it's no-ot." Tsuna wailed, honest to god  _wailed_ , with tears streaming down his face and both Leora and Kyouya panicked.

There was lots of placating, threatening, hitting, and awkward hugging that somehow turned into a brawl when Tsuna tried to run off in shame, and ended with the three of them in a tangled heap, bruised, exhausted, and with Leora crushed underneath them both.

Use of her elbows had them moving so she could actually use her lungs again, but she didn't scoot away.

Well she did, but only for a minute and then she went back.

Propping her head against Kyouya's stomach made her hook her legs over Tsuna's so she could fit in the space between the two properly. Squirming had Kyouya growling at her, but he didn't try to hit her either.

Tsuna tried to pull away. Keyword being  _tried_ , because Leora pressed down more firmly with her legs and Kyouya latched onto an arm, hugging it across his chest so his pillow wouldn't move.

"See? I told you Tsuna, it's  _fine_."

"You're lying."

She was lying – and Leora knew it would take a  _really_  long time, if ever, for it to be fine – but she was most definitely drunk at this point so it wasn't that bad.

She could  _think_ now that every little stimulus wasn't rattling around and crowding her head, and logically she  _could_ put up with it so Tsuna wouldn't break down crying and try to run off again.

Frankly, with his still developing sense of self-worth and confidence, Tsuna needed the positive affection even if she was borderline going insane.

"Go to sleep, Tsuna."

As long as they didn't smother her for the rest of this bullshit cross-country camping trip she could  _probably_ put up with it.

Hopefully.

In small doses.

And with more beer.

* * *

"How long do we have to stay up here?" Tsuna whined, "My hands hurt."

"You're the reason we're in this mess in the first place." Kyouya snapped at the same time Leora asked, "Would you rather have your hands hurt or your bones broken?"

"…Hands."

"That's what I thought. Grip tighter with your legs."

"Why can't I just  _fight_ the herbivores?"

"Because we are trying to be  _subtle_. You do know what that word means, right?"

"Fighting would get us down from here faster."

"Wouldn't it attract everyone nearby though?" Tsuna questioned, shooting his Cloud an apologetic look "People scream a lot when you fight them, Kyouya."

"Yes, it would." Leora confirmed dryly, shifting her grip on the pipe so she could put her bag and its contents into a more secure position. "Do we have to hit up anymore gambling dens or can we  _finally_ get on a bus? We have enough money to buy your house about five times over by now, and I'm pretty sure every loan shark in the city wants us dead in some way, shape, or form."

"What's a loan shark?"

"Leora already explained gambling, little animal. She shouldn't have to go over it again."

"Oh - So they're the people who want you to go into debt so you have to pay interest?"

"Back on the topic of us getting on a bus," Leora broke in, loud enough to get their attention but quiet enough that anyone on the nearby street wouldn't hear them and decide to come looking. "Yes or no? We have the money to 'start filling the empty hall' whatever that is and we've definitely attracted plenty attention after the pai gow game two places back."

"That place was  _weird_." Tsuna muttered as Kyouya preened, puffing up like a half-grown peacock.

The men at that place had taken one look at Kyouya's face and gone from greedy anticipation at the idea of ripping off a couple of kids to nearly shitting themselves, blood draining out of their faces as they all but plastered themselves against the farthest wall and just gave them the money Tsuna had been well on his way to winning on his own.

"They know how they should act around a carnivore." Kyouya informed them smugly, and Leora ripped the resulting sweatdrop off her head and threw it at him in an attempt to poke a hole in his growing ego.

Frantic and stuttering Cantonese had proven they were afraid alright, but not of Kyouya.

They'd been afraid of his face.

Splitting up with the boys with a promise to meet up with them later and some pretty blatant eavesdropping on her part that that the men were too shaken up to notice had Leora learning something...interesting.

Apparently the Storm Arcobaleno had been on a rampage these past couple of weeks.

He'd slaughtered a group of people Leora didn't know, leveled a Triad base, beaten the shit out of countless others who were getting in his way, and burned the ones who were particularly stubborn with his Flames.

Nobody knew why. They just knew he was working his way across China.

And now he was apparently in Chengdu acting as a bodyguard for a kid who was on a major gambling spree.

Leora officially hated Tsuna's intuition.

Because of course that particular rumor would be a sure fire way to get 'the attention of the motherfucking storm'.

And while it was nice to know Kyouya's family cared enough to sic one of the World's Greatest on the asses of whomever decided to kidnap them, it was making it so much harder to move around the city because it seemed  _everybody knew Fon's face._

A face that looked exactly like Kyouya's.

Which was a fact Kyouya would doubtfully like pointed out.

It was also a fact that would also cause a lot of awkward questions for her like ' _How do you know who Fon is?'_  if she did decide to open her mouth, which was why Kyouya was still congratulating himself on his intimidating presence and not trying to tear a bloody swath through all the people who would dare mistake him for his Uncle.

Leora was  _very_ thankful the Cloud didn't understand Cantonese.

Either way it was like walking around with a neon sign because they were running into criminals on damn near every street.

Which was why they were currently hiding in an alley four stories off the ground and clinging to a drain pipe like leeches while a bunch of people with tattoos finished combing the block for them.

The fact that the boys hadn't fallen to their deaths getting up to that level was a fucking miracle.

"Leora, I'm not going to be able to hold on much longer." Tsuna whimpered, already starting to slide down some so he was pressing down almost painfully on her hands. Kyouya grabbing onto Tsuna's shirt kept him from sliding down any more.

Kyouya was starting to slide down too.

"We're going to have to make a run for it." The Cloud bit out sourly. Leora grimaced but didn't argue, leading the descent down to the alley.

"The next bus leaves in about an hour, right?" Glancing at Leora for confirmation, Tsuna perked up when she nodded. "If we hurry we could make it."

"Hurrying isn't the issue. It's losing our unwanted search party."

Touching down first, Leora had them toss their own bags to her to make the rest of the way down easier for them and to use it to break their falls if their hands decided to give out.

"We can make it." Tsuna said firmly, smiling brightly at the two of them. "There's a stop for the city bus not far from here. We can sneak over to that alley and wait for that bus. Then it'll only be a couple of blocks to run to the bus that'll take us to Zhejiang."

"I'd still rather fight the herbivores."

"We're outnumbered and midgets. We'd be dead in ten minutes."

"I am  _not_ a midget."

"You barely come up to the hip of an adult."

"Guys, please stop fighting!"

While trying to placate his Cloud, Tsuna's clumsiness strikes again as he tripped over his shoelaces, toppling over into Kyouya who decided that if he was going to fall Leora was going to fall with him and twisted so he'd land on her.

They hit the ground a split second before the brick behind them exploded into a shower of dust and shrapnel, a spray of bullets peppering the space their heads used to be.

"HIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!"

Scrambling to their hands and knees they lunged behind the cover of a dumpster, barely snagging their bags as they went and plastered themselves against it just in time to avoid another round of bullets and a tirade of angry Mandarin as more people gathered in the mouth of the alley to shoot.

"NEW PLAN! WE NEED A NEW PLAN!"

"Any ideas Mr. I-Have-A-Voice-In-My-Head?"

"NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR YOU TO MAKE FUN OF ME!"

"I'm being serious!"

"Shut.  _Up_." Kyouya snapped, enough anger in his voice to make Tsuna jump, staring intensely at the edge of the dumpster and the voices yelling in Mandarin just beyond it.

People were calling for the others, bragging how they had them cornered, and fantasizing how they were going to kill the brat who'd been stealing all their money.

One person in graphic detail.

Kyouya shoved Tsuna fully behind him and  _snarled._

Eyes solidly purple and glowing, teeth bared, and lilac flames rolling down his arms Kyouya  _rammed_ the dumpster, caving it in as he sent the metal flying towards the people lined up in front of him like bowling pins to smash  _through_ the building facing them, destroying the supports and sending the whole thing crashing down.

Only two of men managed to throw themselves to the side in time, leaving the rest to lie broken and bleeding where they landed.

Leora counted six that were completely missing their bodies above the waist. Two without heads.

There were probably more. It was difficult to see through the dust clouds billowing out from the remains of the building.

Making use of the distraction and the fact that the two left alive couldn't see shit through the cloud of debri Leora grabbed Tsuna by the collar of his shirt and hauled him in the opposite direction, Kyouya a few steps behind them and still seething with rage.

Bee-lining towards the nearest parked car Leora didn't even have to ask before Kyouya was smashing in a window and ripping out the paneling under the wheel for her to hotwire, bundling Tsuna and the bags in the back while the brunet frantically asked if everyone was okay and checked over Kyouya's hands and shoulder.

They were about five blocks away before they heard sirens heading back towards where they came from.

Ten blocks away and they ditched the car, scurrying between streets until they found a city bus Tsuna had mentioned earlier.

The teller at the ticket stand didn't even look at them as they paid for their tickets, more focused on the TV in the corner covering the collapsed building than the group of kids covered head to toe in cement dust with the purple eyed boy glaring murder at everyone in a twenty meter radius.

Kyouya snatched the tickets from the lady's slack fingers, ushering the other two towards their bus, past their startled driver, and into the back row, parking himself in the aisle seat in a way that anyone wanting to sit near them would have to come face-to-face with the Cloud.

Anyone sitting at the back decided it was a great idea to move towards the front.

Tsuna crashed from the adrenaline not long after, leaning against Kyouya as he slept, but not before double checking that everyone was unharmed and thanking Kyouya for knocking the scary guys over so they could get away.

Kyouya just grunted, shifting so Tsuna was tucked more comfortably into his side and locked eyes with Leora.

They both knew he had done a lot more than 'knock them over'.

Meeting his gaze she nodded then settled in so Tsuna was firmly tucked between the two of them.

Tsuna didn't see the gory details and Leora wasn't going to point it out.. It would only freak him out and stress the still relatively new bond he had with the Skylark.

Leora  _probably_ should feel something after seeing upward of twenty men be brutally murdered by an enraged eleven year old who felt absolutely no remorse over his actions other than apathy.

Morally, she knew killing was bad.

Emotionally, she just didn't give a shit.

The fact that those men were going to kill  _them_ cancelled out any reservations she might have had, and frankly she thought they deserved it.

Elements instincts over their Sky was emphasized a lot back in her world, with the protectiveness being the main focus.

The only Element Tsuna had right now was a Cloud and they were supposed to be the most possessive bastards, nudging out Mist's by a hair, on top of being the most violent.

Kyouya was both.

In spades.

Well, whatever. At least this guaranteed Fon didn't have even the slightest chance of  _not_ finding them.

Once they finally got to that port city he should have caught up to them and could provide an easier and safer way to get a ride from China to Japan.

Leora couldn't wait to be able to lock herself in her apartment, turn off all the lights, and just  _sleep_.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this chapter ended up being a lot longer than I had originally planned for. Nobody hate me for the ending either, it surprised me as much as I'm sure it surprised you. I had originally drafted some kind of elaborate chase scene but ended up with this.
> 
> I'm not going to be able to work on anything for a while after this. I'm getting all of my wisdom teeth out in a few days - all of them impacted so this will be lovely - and I'm trying to survive my biochemistry class and lab. The lab especially is kicking my ass.
> 
> Thanks to everyone who liked and reviewed on this story! I never expected it to get up to 22 chapters but wow I'm glad it did. You guys are awesome!


End file.
